


Little Skaia Things

by Ashynarr



Category: Homestuck
Genre: (And I Guess Act 6 and such if you aren't that far in), (aka be careful unless you aren't worried about spoilers or you've finished reading the comic), Drabble Collection, Gen, Now With Some Act 7 Spoilers!, will add characters as they appear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-18
Updated: 2018-01-27
Packaged: 2018-03-13 13:11:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 29,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3382757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashynarr/pseuds/Ashynarr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a collection of Homestuck drabbles I'm writing to get myself more comfortable with the characters. Many of them will probably be set in a post-Game 'verse, so AUs from that will be mentioned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Little Talks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jade and Rose discuss planetary placement and cultural similarities.

"Do you ever think it's weird how the game gave us back our planets?"

Rose looked up from her book to Jade, who was busy crafting a functional model of the solar system in the middle of the living room. Out of the appropriate balance of elements, even, according to her insight. "What do you mean?"

"I mean the trolls, obviously! Their solar system was a lot different than ours, so I figured they might get it again with one of the nearby stars, right?" The witch pointed out, using a nail to get the simulated wind of her mock-Jupiter to swirl correctly.

Rose hummed in understanding. "But instead of their own solar system, they took the place of our Mars, is that it?"

"Yeah!" Another tap of her finger created the Red Spot, completing the last detail to Jade's satisfaction. "Which isn't bad, mostly, because we can see each other more often without having to travel too far. But seeing humans and trolls that weren't any of us for the first time in their histories was just…"

"Fascinating."

"You did watch it!" Jade crowed suddenly, white ears fully alert as she twirled on her friend, pointing. "I knew you'd cave eventually!"

"Using Kanaya as a middlewoman to make me watch Star Trek was low," Rose protested, flushing in remembrance of how she'd been convinced by her wife to do so.

"John was so upset he didn't think of it first," The witch of space laughed. "He had this whole prank planned where he'd kidnap you and trap you in a room with a giant cake and five TVs all playing it, and the only way to get out would be to eat the whole cake."

Rose slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing at the absurd image, though it didn't help much. "Sound absolutely  _devious_."

"He'd even recruited Jane and Roxy into helping before I told him," Jade grinned. "You might want to be careful, though; he has a lot of movies he wants to watch again since they're different now."

"Yes, I did get the feeling Sporak in our old universe didn't have horns," The seer of light agreed.

"They managed to keep the ears and blood color, though," Jade pointed out.

"That reminds me, what was he like in the original version?" Rose asked.

"Well, his name was Spock, obviously, and he was a Vulcan from the desert planet Vulcan."

"Creative."

"Hey, we call our planet Earth, that's not creative either," Jade stuck her tongue out before continuing. "And all Vulcans had green sulfur based blood, which I know isn't what the trolls have but I guess we can't have gotten everything the same. Oh, and they were all about logic and controlling emotions because if they didn't they could be a lot more violent because they naturally feel emotions a lot more strongly."

Rose's eyebrow raised as she leaned forward in renewed interest. "Violent?"

The witch shrugged. "Yeah, they were sorta a lot like the Alternian trolls before the equivalent of Vulcan Jesus came along and convinced everyone to convert to Vulcan buddhism."

The seer snorted before she could stop herself at the summary. "You mean their own Signless?"

"...huh, yeah, I guess so." Jade tilted her head back in thought. "Wow, maybe Vulcans are a lot more like trolls than I thought. And I just remembered some Vulcans were really good with touch telepathy."

"Which the trolls also have, though they don't need to touch to do so."

"I guess." She perked up. "The Vulcans were vegetarians! Which I know the trolls aren't."

Rose nodded. "Trolls are also nocturnal for the most part, which I feel wasn't the case before."

"Nope, none of the aliens I remember were that way." Jade hummed in thought, frowning suddenly. "There might have been some, though - I can't remember! Gah, now it's gonna bug me all day!"

The seer hid a smile behind her hands, watching her friend rock on her feet in frustration. Sure, Star Trek had been alright, and the reward for getting through a season had been more than worth it, but the newfound knowledge of how to frustrate her more engaged friends was a bonus she was hoping to milk for decades to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some silly Rose and Jade interactions, once again in a post-Game universe. I have no clue if this is canonical for the two, but I started out talking about space and ended talking about Star Trek, so I haven't completely failed yet. Thoughts? Suggestions?


	2. Letter for You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vriska finds a letter hidden in Kanaya's hive... addressed to her?
> 
> Onesided VrisKana

"Oh Kanayaaaaaaaa!" Vriska called out as she strode into her server player's hive. "Are you here?"

When no answering snarky reply came back down the halls, the cobalt-blood frowned. To be frank, since Kanaya had all but started ignoring her except to tell her to leave Tavros alone occasionally, she'd gotten bored of having no one to bother while her minion was off doing… whatever his quests were. Probably useless grub stuff again.

Whatever, it hardly mattered to her; she unfortunately had to wait for the next stupid quest on her land to unlock before she could continue on, and she'd been right by the gate to her former moirail's land, so she figured she'd take a look to see how that super special frog quest of hers was going.

But hey, if the jade-blood wasn't around, that meant Vriska could snoop for herself and see if there was anything interesting in her hive!

The cobalt troll grinned viciously.

Each door she threw open only revealed boring things; a dining room, a kitchen, a huge room that she guessed might have once held Kanaya's lusus, and a storage room. The last one didn't even have any cool treasures, just boring food and cloth and supplies.

Huffing, she turned and ascended the stairs, hoping something up here would be far more interesting. Luckily for Vriska, the top turned out to be the jade troll's bedroom, complete with

husktop and recuperacoon. It seemed Kanaya had gone all out on the decorating in here - with all the colorful streamers and pillows and numerous other decorations, it'd take forever to find anything unless one had insanely good luck.

Which, of course, Vriska had.

Spinning on her heel towards a random corner of the room, she walked past a pile of pillows to stop before a neat pile of fabric lying in a corner, ordered from bottom to top by color. Wow, was Kanaya ever a neat freak, even while playing Sgrub.

"Let's see what you have hidden in here…" Vriska rubbed her hands together, going for the cloth that matched her own blood color first. After a minute of digging around for nothing, she was about to leave it as a bad job before a sheet of paper slipped out from the fabric, settling right to her feet.

Victory! Clearly with her luck this was something incredibly embarrassing the bossy troll never wanted to be found. There was no other reason for it to have been stuffed back here where no one else would find it.

Opening it up with a flourish, she scanned the page while starting to read out loud, "Vriska-"

She paused, the first inkling of true curiosity nudging at her with that start.

"Vriska," She started again, grin slipping away as she continued. "At the time I write this letter, we have been moirails for one full sweep. Since we have entered the game, this relationship has been tested, but so far seems to be staying strong. At least, that is what I had believed at first.

"After a close examination of our relationship and recent interactions, I am afraid I have come to a concerning, if in hindsight blinding obvious conclusion. I have been failing you in my duties as a moirail, and for that, I apologize."

Vriska paused, frowning now. Was this some sort of bizarre apology?

"I have failed you, and more importantly, I have failed myself. When I saw you kiss Tavros, I felt a blinding rage even I was startled by, and distanced myself from you until I could collect myself again. During this time, I was forced to realize why I had been failing my duties to you -

I no longer felt pale for you."

Vriska paused again, suddenly struck by the urge to throw this letter away and run, retreating to her planet again and pretending she never knew that Kanaya had dumped her without even saying it to her face. The other part of her, driven onward by morbid curiosity, turned her vision eightfold back to the letter.

"I don't believe my feelings for you have been pale for quite some time, and the fact that it took me this long to realize it probably says quite a bit about myself. And though you will probably never hear me say this to you, I have been told by Karkat that a good way to deal with muddled feelings is to write it down - "Get it out of my thinkpan", so to speak. So, despite my reluctance, that is what I have done and will do in order to help me focus more on my duties in breeding Bilius Slick.

"I am not pale for you, Vriska, because I am deeply, crimson-red flushed for you."

Vriska almost crumpled the letter right there, but her gaze etched over that one line again and again, committing it to her mind as clearly as the stories in her ancestor's journal. Kanaya was… flushed? For her?

(That hadn't happened to Mindfang, though-)

She forced herself to finish, words fumbling over her tongue. "And I know that you, who has planned your life around following in your ancestor's footsteps, would never consider anyone but Tavros for that spot in your quadrants. That is why, despite what my heart might tell me, I can never tell you how I feel, or even hand you this letter.

"I know you are probably still angry with me for abandoning you when you need me most, and you have every right to be. I only wish I could explain myself fully, but I admit, at least in this letter, to being afraid of your rejection more than almost anything. I am truly sorry, Vriska, for not being a better moirail, or at least a better friend. I hope that, after we beat the game and claim the prize, we might one day be friends again.

"...Kanaya."

Vriska stood there for what felt an eternity, for once not sure of her own luck if it meant finding things like… like  _this_.

The part of her who had grown up on tales of a dashing heroine that ruled the seas like none other wanted to reject this abrupt derailing from the well mapped path her ancestor had left her. The part of her who had laughed and joked around with Kanaya wanted to march over to her damned frog lab and demand answers and ease her whirling confusion and worries.

For once, her luck abandoned her, leaving her unsure of what to do. Did she go back to her planet and pretend this never happened, or did she go against her destiny and strike her own path into the unknown?

Did she do what Mindfang would do, or what Vriska would do?

(...was there even a difference now?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on a prompt somewhere that wanted Vriska finding an unsent love letter from Kanaya and reacting to it. Hopefully I did them both justice, as this was pretty sad to write even if I'm not a huge shipper in this fandom.
> 
> I guess this could sorta be a thing that maybe happened in canon but we never saw? IDK it's just a think I'm glad to have gotten done.


	3. Rescued?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vriska felt there was something off about the whole situation.
> 
> Canon complaint

"Noo! Terezi, don't do it!"

Vriska blinks, completely pulled out of the dramatic moment at the voice, turning to see who had interrupted their game, and gaping when she recognized him. "John?"

There was no way this was the same scrawny dork she'd only recently confessed her deepest worries to; for one thing, he was way older, and the second, he wasn't supposed to be in this session at all! Not to mention she was getting the very odd feeling that things had been irrevocably changed just now.

Terezi and Gamzee, at least, looked equally confused.

"What are you doing heAUGH!" She tries to ask, only to get a fist right to her cheek, sending her tumbling ass over wings across the floor until she finally flops to a woozy stop several feet away.

Again she has the feeling she was supposed to be doing something very different right now, though what that is escapes her as she slowly pushes herself up on an arm. John and Terezi sound like they're arguing about something, though all she can make out is the stabs of pain being sent through her skull each time one of them raises their voice.

"Guys?" She manages to ask once her brain and mouth are coordinated enough to do so again, even though her head still feels like it's pounding. At the least, it mercifully stops the arguing, which seems to have gained an extra voice in the meantime.

After a moment of silence she feels a warm hand pressed to her cheek, and until she looks up and sees blue eyes instead of green, she's almost convinced it's Terezi or Kanaya, but no, that grin could only be one person-

"How?" She asks, hoping to get some control over -  _something_  in the crazy mess this has all become.

John chuckles and shrugs sheepishly, holding up a bright red scarf that, she realizes after a second, has teal blood on it. "It's a long story, and basically has me getting some cool retcon-y powers and future Terezi sending me on a dumb series of pranks before saving your life. But yeah, you don't have to die now, so that's good! ...I think, anyways?"

Vriska blinks again, slowly, turning to look at her friend, who looks equally confused, not to mention irritated. "...okay?"

"Right!" He grins, making her feel just a bit faint again, setting her down gently before getting back up, fistpumping like the dork he was. "I think that's everything, and I don't think I really need to hang around, so I'll see you guys later!"

"You aren't going anywhere until you explain this mess!" Karkat snaps, right when Terezi cries, "Give me the scarf first, John!"

John just waves, still wearing that grin even as he, to her startlement, glows bright blue and, in a pale flash, vanishes into thin air. Karkat's mouth is already off, spewing the sort of swears he's only reserved for special occasions, while Terezi shakes her head and walks over to check on her.

Kanaya, still holding up a blind Sollux, asks, "Could someone please explain what just happened?"

"Yeah," Sollux grumbles, giving what would have been an annoyed look if he could still see to the room in general. "Some of us couldn't see shit around here, if you hadn't noticed."

Vriska and Terezi exchange a long look before turning back to the two. "We have no idea."

(It doesn't strike her for another day(?) that she had almost been killed by her own scourge sister, having been too distracted with the questions everyone had about John's appearance and his unwillingness to stay and explain what had happened. Thankfully, Vriska is alone when the thought strikes her, causing her to pause in the middle of the hall she was fluttering down, eyes blown wide.

Her breath shudders, and she's lucky there's no one there because she can't stop herself from shaking or for a few blue tears to escape her. She sinks to the floor, knees buckling as she tries her best to get rid of the evidence, because damnit all she should be used to the others hating her but somehow it hurts when she knows her closest friend (besides John, but she's not sure if he counts because he's human and just doesn't  _get_  it sometimes) would have killed her in order to protect everyone else.

(Had John been telling the truth when he'd said he'd changed the Alpha timeline so she didn't have to die? And had he done it for her, or…)

Vriska closes her eyes and takes deep breaths, recollecting herself. She wasn't as eager to go off and face Jack now that she knew what would happen otherwise, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to prepare herself for what danger - and glory - was lurking ahead.

She was Vriska Serket, descendant of the greatest pirate to ever rule the Alternian seas, and she'd be damned if she was gonna let this second chance slip by while she could do something important in Paradox Space.)

(...Why did she have the feeling she was forgetting something important, though?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be something else, but somehow it sorta ended up being a rehash of one of the scenes from the comic with a bit of Vriska's thoughts tacked on afterwords. Not the most creative, and I wanted to have this up on the thirteenth, but ah well, can't have everything. Enjoy?


	4. Sibling Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose is sick, so Dave has to keep her from doing anything too stupid.

"You look like shit."

Rose refuses to sniffle, giving her brother a flat look instead. "Your observational skills continue to improve, I see."

Dave snorts incredulously. "Your face is redder than Karkat's right before he flips off the handle and goes on a merry-go-round of anatomically-impossible suggestions and you're sweating more than that creepy troll who got mixed up with bro's robot glasses to make an even creepier sprite."

"I'm fine," Rose replied, swallowing and regretting the action immediately at the spike of pain that caused. "I've suffered worse than this."

"I'll make sure to put that on your grave," Her brother grins in amusement. "Rose Lalonde, god tier Seer of Light extraordinaire and humanity's first ambassador to the hot alien trolls next planet over on a lifelong quest to go down where no man or woman has gone before, brought down by a case of weak-ass Earthling influenza."

"How flattering," She can't help but smile a little. "Although I should remind you that technically Jade was the first to speak to them from our chronological point of view."

"Maybe in the game," Dave concedes. "But last I remember you were the one to help initiate first contact here, or was that some other sister of mine?"

"If you have other sisters, I would have definitely liked to have known before now," Rose's eyes widen, showing off more red veins. "Did David go through with his secret lifelong desire to be a drag queen then? Or are there things you wish to tell me? I haven't had a chance to crack open my psychology books in quite a while."

"Ha ha ha," Dave replied flatly. "You know damn well it was Jade who changed us into those right before graduation, though she still hasn't told me where she even got the monstrosities she shoved us all into."

"You haven't guessed yet?" The Seer pressed a hand to her lips. "Roxy's gotten quite good with her abilities, and she thought it'd be an excellent way to celebrate mastering that particular skill. I must say, considering how it turned out, it was an excellent decision on their part."

"Betrayed by my own mother," Dave places a hand over his heart, though his face remains solemn. "What can I expect next from her wily ways? Matching hideous Christmas sweaters for us to wear while we pose in those family photos that our distant and nonexistent relatives always demand even though they never come for Christmas dinner? Real fake-ass Thanksgiving turkeys that always turn out to be made from tofu cause that one crazy vegan aunt is coming over for a surprise visit and the kids always break down in unison crying about the cruelties of the universe?"

Rose can't stop her giggle at the absurdity of the statement, which would have grown into full out laughter if it hadn't had the unfortunate side effect of triggering a nasty hacking fit, leaving her with an obscene amount of snotty saliva on her pajama-clad arm and a brief wash of misery at her current situation.

Dave simply snorts. "See? If you can't even handle my weaker shenanigans without hacking up vital organs, how can you expect me to let you wander around the house and possibly fall down some ironically placed stairs?"

"Unless you moved them since I last left my room, I doubt they are placed any more ironically than usual." Rose sighs. "But unfortunately, as you have made your point, I will concede the victory to you."

Dave grins again, looking ready to fistbump her shoulder before recalling she was miserably sick and that he wanted no part of that. "Don't worry about starving up here; our parent-siblings have joined unholy forces to craft you the finest meals God has ever witnessed on this poor Earth in order to hasten your recovery so that you don't miss out on family bonding night."

Rose's eyes narrow in suspicion. "You're letting them cook unsupervised?"

"Me? No way, I'm all up in this responsibility shit like a cat on the proverbial dumbass mouse who didn't stop to notice the huge-ass predator behind it on its quest for cheesy goodness."

" _Dave._ "

The Knight turns and walks out the door. "I'll bring some medicine when they're done; and don't you worry, David's got them well at hand."

He doesn't look back once as he descends the stairs, knowing with a satisfied smirk that she's already paled in horror at what those three would create with their… skewed tastebuds. Hopefully it'll keep her from snarking at his own cooking habits for at least a week after this.

(And if he's the one to actually make the food she eats instead, helped along with a bit of timely shenanigans, she doesn't have to know.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never written Dave before, so I tried my best to capture his tone of voice, but idk if it worked or not. Was definitely fun to write, though! I need to work on more stuff with these two.


	5. Naked Monkey Wrigglers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat is not suitable child-rearing material. Thankfully he doesn't have to be.
> 
> implied JohnRoxy, post-game
> 
> Posted July 23 2015

It was watching him, hunger in its cold blue eyes. It had already decided he was prey, just waiting for the chance to strike, and there was no way to escape it now. He scooted away as it slowly made its way toward him, graspers reaching towards him as its drool dripped down its cheek to the floor below. And that low cry, that horrible low cry-

"Up, up!"

Yes, truly the horrible wriggler offspring of Egbert and Lalonde (the senior?) was a worthy foe.

Karkat heaved a sigh of relief when Roxy swept in, flashing him a smile as she collected up her errant offspring. "Hey there! What brings you by?"

"I'm here to see John," He replied, eying the little beast that was still trying to reach for him from her arms. Was that thing damaged or something? "Where is he?"

"Oh, he's out with Dave getting groceries, they should be back soon," She waved off, looking down to the wriggler with an amused smile. "I see Lilu's introduced herself already. Isn't she adorable?"

Karkat told her flatly, "It looks like a naked pink monkey."

Roxy laughed. "That's what humans are, Karkat! I thought John told you that a while ago."

"Yeah, I remember, it's just really weird. I still don't know why your species puts up with growing more members of your species inside you - everything I've heard about it makes it sound painful."

"It is for a while, but it's so worth it afterwards," She tickles under her daughter's chin, drawing a laugh from her. "Isn't that right?"

The troll sighed, once again marvelling at the human enigma that was a 'family unit'. Heck, the only trolls he knew that lived together were Feferi and Meenah, and that's because they had a huge-ass palace under the ocean that could fit a hundred trolls and custodians comfortably. Not to mention it was easier to co-rule when you could debate face to face instead of over Trollslum.

Roxy glanced back up to him, her smile quickly making him nervous. "Say, would you like to hold her for a bit? I bet she'd love some time with Uncle Karkat!"

"What the fuck's an uncl-" His breath whooshed out of him as the child was gently pushed into his chest, arms scrambling to hold her as Roxy pulled away.

"No swearing," She told him pointedly, staring him down until he meekly nodded, knowing that she was fairly important considering she'd actually created the new matriorb that had saved their entire species.

"Unca Kar!" The wriggler clung tightly to him, all her stubby teeth bared as she stared up at him.

"I'm not even human, how can I be an uncle?" He complained. "Isn't that a human only thing?"

"It just means someone who's close to the family," Roxy informed, hiding her smile behind her hand now. Yeah, yeah, it was absolutely hilarious, especially since the wriggler was now attempting to climb up higher to either aim for his hair or, more horrifically, his horns. "And you and John are pretty close, aren't you?"

"I guess," He eventually conceded, eventually succeeding in removing the attachment to his clothing despite the petulant cry that emerged from its mouth. "Please take it back."

Roxy hummed and stepped forward, reclaiming the wriggler and calming it down when it started to fuss more. "C'mon you, let's make some lunch so that everyone can eat when dad and Uncle Dave get back. You going to help?"

Karkat realized the last was directed to him. "I-"

"You can either help make food or keep watching her, your choice."

"I'll help, I'll help, sheesh!"

The troll grumbled under his breath as he followed her, wondering why he'd even bothered agreeing to help Terezi by passing along the stupid message in person. Clearly just sending it over the internet would have been better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...okay, I admit to a weakness for JohnRoxy, it's just been cute in the comic so far, and you know both of those nerds would watch and love Fifth Element. And poor poor Karkat, he is not suited for parenthood but gets drafted anyways because of the human disease known as friendship.


	6. Of Grubs and Humans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Which The Human Kids Baffle and Concern Reputable Jadebloods

"This is a grub?"

Eight humans were gathered around Kanaya and Porrim, who had, after much debate and negotiation, given in and shown them to the hatchery. It was where the newborn grubs were checked over for potentially fatal mutations or injuries and recorded in the extensive databases based on their hues and horns, so naturally they'd been worried that the mere presence of non-jade adults would rile the little ones up.

A blueblooded grub, having come over to investigate upon the entry of the two jadebloods along with strangers, looked up to the speaker, who peered back down with equal curiosity.

As it was, the grubs didn't seem hostile to their presence yet, and the humans weren't freaking out either, so Kanaya was considering it a tentative win on her part-

"It's. so. CUTE!" Roxy, who had been the one to speak before, all but squealed as she picked up the confused grub, spinning it around before holding it close to her face. "Ohmygosh, lookit it's wiggly little butt!"

Both jadebloods stared blankly, wondering what she could find cute about a grub, only to be again jarred as the other girls seemed to agree, getting close and investigating it more thoroughly.

"I thought they would be more like termite larva," Rose admitted to her dancestor, claiming the grub for herself as it squeaked and squirmed a bit. "But I have to admit, they're rather adorable up close."

The two turned to the boys, hoping to find more sense, only to realize John and Jake were each hosting two grubs each on their laps, taunting them with their fingers and laughing cheerfully.

"I think this one looks like a Walter, don't you?" John asked, gesturing to the brownblood grub on his right knee.

"Oh yes, most definitely," Jake agreed, picking up the cerulean attempting to climb his shirt. "And this one can be Neytiri!"

"Isn't that seven letters, though?" The heir asked, frowning in thought. "Maybe just Netiri?"

"I suppose," The page sighed, setting the grub back down and lightly tapping it on the nose, causing it to squeak in protest.

Dave and Dirk, the last two they held out hope for even being remotely normal about all this, turned out to have have a grub on each of their heads, completely unconcerned for the safety of anyone involved. When the rustblood on Dave started to slip, however, the knight reached up and settled it back into place before continuing his conversation with his dancestor like nothing was wrong.

Kanaya looked to Porrim, who was as lost as she was.

"Is this… normal for them?" Porrim asked after a moment.

"I know they care for their own young, but…" Kanaya bit her lip, eventually turning back to her matesprit, who would undoubtedly be able to explain this strange phenomenon.

However, it was Jane who replied to the question, eyes alight once she realized what was being asked. "Oh, humans love all babies, regardless of species. Well, most anyways. We've looked after animals of hundreds of different species, and pets are as common as children in a lot of countries."

"You look after young that isn't your own?" Kanaya wondered, baffled and amazed at such an unnecessary adaptation. "How do you have time for them?"

"Most people with pets consider them part of the family unit," Rose replied, glancing up from the grub she'd been teasing with a strand of ribbon. "I know as a kid I saw Jasper as irreplaceable, and the kittens around the house now are all as important to Roxy and I as any children we might ever have."

"Bec is my best friend," Jade continued, grinning widely. "He's as important to me as John and Rose and Dave, and even if he doesn't have to take care of me anymore, I still try to include him in family time."

"So, like, it's not really a waste of time? Especially since they're hella good at helping lower blood pressure and giving love and companionship and stuff. It's science!"

"Indeed," Rose agreed, smiling. "Pets are medically shown to help bolster the physical and mental health of their owners, unless of course allergies are involved; we even train therapy dogs to help comfort people who need it. Sort of like a mini-moirail to help ease the worst of your frustrations."

"So you think the grubs are like pets?" Porrim asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"No, no!" Jane waved her hands. "We know they're young trolls, and we know they'll grow up into thinking beings and such, so if we looked after such we'd raise them… well, I suppose the way we raise human children?"

The maid looked a bit confused, glancing to her friends in askance.

"Well, we'd probably try to find out how trolls are cared for in order to be healthy adults," Rose offered after a beat. "But no doubt human morals and thinking would worm their way in there regardless."

"I mean, it's not like we'd actually be looking after them, right?" Roxy laughed, petting the blueblooded grub who had curled up in her lap and started to purr softly. "That's what your lususes and stuff are for."

The jadebloods looked to each other again, uncertain how to bring up the fact that there simply were never enough lusii for all the grubs that came out of the caverns - hence why so many died young. It was a way of keeping the population in check, even on Beforus, and neither had felt that it was a huge deal.

On the other hand, the grubs apparently had no fear or dislike of the aliens playing with them, which raised many a question about what the grubs disliked about non-jade trolls…

And whether this would at all be useful towards Feferi and Meenah's plans to bring humans and trolls closer together.

This… would require reporting, along with some serious deliberation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yes, I've seen a few fics with this idea around AO3, although most of those were like humor or special circumstances. So part of me wondered – in a post-game universe, would it be possible (or necessary) for humans to look after trolls? Sure, trolls are shit at looking after kids, but humans just seem to have this natural capability to look after young regardless of species.
> 
> Needless to say, the trolls are baffled and concerned and interested all in one.


	7. T)(e --Empress And )(er Council

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because fixing a broken system is going to take more than one ambitious fuchsia-blooded troll. 
> 
> [Non SBURB / SGRUB AU]

"Everyone clam down and shell up!"

The other eleven trolls in the room went quiet quickly, grumbling under their breaths as they retook their seats. Annoying the empress was a sure way to get into trouble, and none of them were so certain of their invulnerability that they would take the risk of prodding her temper further.

"Now," She continued once they'd all settled into place. "I know not all of us get along, but in order to make progress, I need each and every one of you to work with me, and that means working with each other even if you might not agree all the time. Do you think you all can do that?"

From around the table came murmured agreements.

"Whale?"

"Yes, empress," They replied much more clearly, several shooting looks at each other but otherwise keeping themselves composed.

"Good!" She replied cheerfully, turning her focus to one troll in particular. "Now, Karkrab, I know you're freaked out about anyone knowing your blood color-"

"Because it's no one's business!" He protested immediately.

"-But honestly, we've all known about you being off-spectrum for sweeps now."

"What?" He yelled, standing up fast before Terezi reached up, grabbed his collar, and pulled him back into his seat despite his squirming protests.

"Yeah, Vriska's ancestor left a journal with Equius' about her thoughts on yours, and it included lots of notes on what she'd learned of his cult and the symbol he left you! I thought she was supposed to give it to you after Sollux finished scanning it for all of us?"

"Well, he wouldn't exactly tell me where he lived, and you've all made it clear what'll happen next time I try to use my powers on any of you," The cerulean troll rolled her eyes, pulling out a book and handing it over to Kanaya, who dutifully passed it to Karkat, who looked like he didn't know whether to burn it then and there or hide it for later.

"Right, now that that's done, how're we going to deal with the fact that almost all of your citizens are still thousands of light years away?" Sollux asked, adjusting his glasses as he looked around the room. "Messages take time to get out there, and not all of them will reply right away because they're finishing missions the Condesce sent them on. And we can't exactly wait for new recruits raised by your rule to fix things quickly, since most of the fleet commanders are old enough to have met our ancestors personally."

"A lot of them are going to be upset with some of your more radical changes," Terezi added. "Not that I think looking after trolls who need the help is a bad thing overall, but there are those like me or Tavros who can mostly look after ourselves, and it could lead to an abusive system if we don't have ways for cullees to report their cullers for fraud or misinformation."

"You will also have to decide what to do about the meat engine system your predecessor put into place," Equius noted, frowning thoughtfully to the notes he'd already made. "Though an amazing feat of transportation, the system itself is… inelegant, and prone to flaws that could endanger the lowbloods powering it and thus strand trolls light years from help."

All of them grimaced at the memory of the poor goldblood who had been found powering the Condesce's ship, barely clinging to life after whatever magic had been keeping him on this side of the dream bubbles had failed him. Feferi had put him out of his misery quickly, while Sollux had looked up his service information and realized he'd been old enough to have known the Signless personally.

(The fact that he could very well have been Sollux's own ancestor, based on his horns, mutations, and symbol, was enough to make most of them more than glad the empress had ended her predecessor before she could think to claim their goldblooded friend as a replacement engine.)

"I know this'll be a lot of work," Feferi sighed, shaking her head on how much she already had to do just to get her friend's safety and comfort assured. How was it so hard to get drones to understand that attacking her friends just because they were cripples or mutants was not allowed under any circumstances? "But that's why I called for all of you instead of trying to do it all myself! I know I have a lot to learn, and that one day I'll have to be able to handle this on my own, but I want to start my rule right, and the only way I can do that is if I have people who can tell me how this will affect their castes in the short and long terms."

"None of us would have come if we didn't trust you to try and fix things," Nepeta spoke up. "We know you'll be an awesome empurress, so there's no harm in helping for as long as we can!"

Though she would live to see thousands of council members and tens of thousands of meetings sit at the table over her many sweeps of rule, none would ever come close to giving her the warm feeling she got in her bloodpusher at seeing all eleven of her closest friends ready to help her make a new and better Alternia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably not 100% in character for all of them, but this was just a basic hash of an idea I've seen around and wanted to try myself. I can't even begin to imagine how to write a long enough fic that could go into everything, but who knows, I might one day go insane enough to give it a shot or something.


	8. On Further Observation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nepeta has watched the humans enough to recognize that she does not understand them as well as she'd like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU where all the beta trolls are alive and all the beta kids have joined them on the meteor.

Humans are, Nepeta thinks, deceptively soft-looking. They have no horns or exoskeletons to protect themselves, no claws to strike down enemies, and no psionics to give them an edge. But still, they managed to complete their session faster than the twelve of them had, while dealing with the same enemy that had ravaged the troll's session.

Her tail wags behind her, her hiding spot in the vents undetected as she spies on the four playing one of their many human games. Whatever it is involves a lot of colorful paper and a lot of yelling, though there is more laughter than anything, and not the cruel or mocking kinds she's heard too often from the other trolls. Even when one clearly breaks the rules of the game, the others are not truly angry - there's no tension, no bared teeth or rigid postures, only the playful shoving of purrbeast cubs.

For beings that look so much like trolls, they are so very, very alien, she thinks!

Jade cheers as John makes his next move, accepting paper from him in exchange for a hug. He grumbled, but he was still smiling even as Rose takes her turn on the game. And that's a parallel between the 'siblings' she's noticed - John and Jade tend to initiate contact more often, but Rose and Dave seem to linger longer.

They do it less with trolls, however - not because they don't want to, but because the first time John did it to Karkat, he'd all but frozen up in panic, totally misunderstanding what was obviously platonic to the four humans. They'd held back after that, very careful to make sure that they did not touch unless invited to, something she didn't think the others had realized quite yet.

They more than made up for it around each other, especially Jade, who as she understands it lived for years with only a lusus for company. Apparently, this is extremely abnormal for humans, and not in a good way, but the barkbeast-eared girl seems alright to her, so maybe it hadn't lasted for too long? Or maybe she just is not as good as reading humans and their emotions as she is with trolls.

Unlike Karkat and Kanaya, Nepeta has also come to understand that humans do not understand the quadrants, and do not feel them the same way trolls do. What trolls see as obscenely pale does not even register to humans, and all other relationships just seem to, in a pun, pale compared to that overarching bond between them.

(She does not want to imagine how the others will react should they ever learn the four humans sleep piled together, like some sort of papping orgy that'd gone on too long and left everyone exhausted. Vriska would make things awkward, and Karkat would probably faint again.)

Rose is red for Kanaya, that much is obvious, and Kanaya is red for Rose, but Rose doesn't seem to realize how much she confuses Kanaya whenever she sits down with her and starts to discuss feelings. Feelings are, after all, a moirail thing, not a matesprit thing, but apparently human romance is as much pink as it is red.

She guesses this by seeing how Dave and Jade interact, how they blush and laugh and perhaps spend time doing things they don't do with John or Rose. She's disappointed it took her weeks to recognize red flirting, but once she does she cannot help but watch them more closely, for shipping purrposes, of course!

John and Rose, at least, seem to realize their other two friends are red for each other, able to recognize when Dave and Jade want time alone together even faster than she can. They also, interestingly, can tell when someone does not want to be alone, or needs to be separated from whichever trolls have taken to bothering them.

She privately giggles whenever Jade wraps arms around John while Vriska is talking to him, eyes big and innocent like baby snufflebeasts while apologizing, saying she needed her 'sibling' desperately for something. Luck, it seems, does not factor in human sneakiness, probably because she doesn't realize the game they're playing with her.

Humans, for how soft and harmless they look, are predators in disguise.

And maybe it is seeing some of her lusus in them, capable of playfulness and protectiveness and the importance of the pride, that finally has her approaching them as an equal instead of as aliens. Because her room on the meteor is so very cold and lonely, and she misses having someone to sleep next to, and she thinks that maybe they will be the ones who understand.

(On a side note, humans are very, very warm. She cannot find herself regretting her decision for a single moment.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, the thing I was originally gonna do had me like 'wat', so after several false starts on other things this is what basically allowed itself to be written. Can't claim it's good or not, but it's not terrible, which is my criteria at this point tbh.


	9. A Beginning and an End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two Short, Unrelated Drabbles, Celebrating The Beginnings and Ends Of Legends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of Homestuck / Act 7 Spoilers in the Author's Notes, Be Warned!

You were born to rule; you've known this since you were old enough to understand your mother's whispered prophecies. You have no reason to doubt her, after all - your blood is proof enough of the matter.

No one but you and her lived this deep in the darkness, where the blistering sun dared not venture. You hardly missed the company you'd never had, more focused on becoming strong and clever enough to claim your birthright. You grew up hunting to feed yourself and your mother, dragging corpses from miles away to offer it as proof and reward to your loving caretaker.

Sometimes you dreamed of other places, filled with light and colors and mayhem that you did not fully understand at first. Like all other things that confused you, you pushed onward, curiosity and arrogance demanding knowledge of this doomed realm.

(Ironically, it was there you discovered what would have been your name had there been any other than your mother to give it to you. It rolled nicely enough off the tongue, but did not hold the taste of power you would have liked.

No matter; that was what titles were for, and you knew you would get a damn awesome one by the time you established yourself as empress. You could hardly wait!)

The dreams tapered off as you got older, until eventually only your mother's songs filled them. But that was alright - you'd gotten everything you needed to know from them, and you knew you were more than ready to claim the world that had been waiting for you since before you were even born.

(And the worlds that hadn't been.)

Grubsteps, you were told, because you had all the time in the universe. You could afford to be patient, bide your time, build up your resources until no one could think of stopping you.

Not that you were interested in waiting, of course - what was the point if it wasn't a challenge? You grinned as you stepped out of your ocean home onto pink sand, twin moons shining down like beacons of fortune on your future conquests. Who cared if you were starting a bit early - you were pretty sure eight sweeps (by surface dweller measurement) was more than old enough to start making waves.

You are Meenah Piexes, future ruler of Alternia and beyond, and you were going to take your destiny by the horns and break it under your carapaced heel whether it liked it or not.

~0~0~0~0~

"Happy birthday!"

John and Jane both grinned, kicking back in their seats while their friends gathered around. Four years after they'd ended the game, and they'd made it something of a tradition to get together once a year in order to celebrate the anniversary of their new lives in their universe. All of them were usually busy with their own things, whether rebuilding their respective species or exploring the rest of the galaxy or even arguing over the law of the joint societies, but this one day was dedicated to reaffirming their bonds and reminding themselves of how far they'd come from when they'd all started out on their adventures.

As Jane's dad set the large cake down between the birthday kids, the two looked to each other, having already agreed just how this particular party would go.

"Three…" John started, hands glowing blue ever so softly.

"Two…" Jane replied, hands also glowing now.

"Surprise!" They shouted, Jane creating more than enough cakes to spatter everyone while John blew them into everyone's face at the same time. They both fell out of their seats as everyone yelped or tried to dodge, excepting Jane's dad who calmly picked a larger chunk off of his face and stuck it in his mouth.

"Hmm, vanilla. I approve."

He then pulled out two pies, bringing them slamming into his kids' heads while they were still out of breath from laughing so hard. They stopped in shock for a moment at his actions, looking up at his smug trickster's grin, only to reply with two matching grins of their own.

"CAKE WAR!"

With the help of Roxy and Jade, there was soon cake flying everywhere, and casualties abounded as the poor carapacians who'd come over to see what was happening fled from the confectionary assault.

Overall, the party was a resounding success, even getting Empresses Meenah and Feferi to relax and enjoy their break from their ongoing duties to their species. John and Jane agreed there was no better twentieth birthday they could have dreamed of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the first one, it could kick off an awesome empire building quest type of thing should I ever be motivated to try such a thing again. ...shut up, I totally don't have a thing for the Condesce, shut your mouths all of you.
> 
> As for the second... I really liked the ending. Homestuck can now be called my favorite anime completely unironically. Holy fraaaaaaaaag that art, and now I wanna write all the things about what wasn't wrapped up. Can't wait for that epilogue! Thank you Andrew Hussie for your brilliant story, and good luck in your future projects. And, of course, happy birthday John, you've finally made it home. :)


	10. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A family after the end, and a family yet to be made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Multiple drabbles]

Jade looked up to her opponents, who were all waiting in eager anticipation for her next move. Leaning forward slowly, she rested her hand on top of the deck of cards, sliding the top one off carefully before turning it around so she could read it with a critical eye.

"Come to Dubai, where you can relax in our world-famous spas, experience the nightlife, or simply enjoy blank by the poolside."

In an instant John and Dave had slammed down cards in front of her, while Rose thoughtfully tapped her own hand before picking one and setting it down as well. Noticeably, her stack of black cards was almost twice as high as the rest of theirs, something the boys called cheats on but which she countered with psychology.

Or, in her words, "I've known you idiots my entire life, of course I know how to pander to you."

Jade picked them all up, shuffling them a few times even though she was fairly certain she could still guess whose was whose, and turned them around to read them out loud as well.

"Come to Dubai, where you can relax in our world-famous spas, experience the nightlife, or simply enjoy black people by the poolside." Snerk from the boys, grin from Rose.

"Come to Dubai, where you can relax in our world-famous spas, experience the nightlife, or simply enjoy turning the rivers red with the blood- sorry, boold of infidels by the poolside." A raised eyebrow from Rose and a oh of surprise from John.

"Come to Dubai, where you can relax in our world-famous spas, experience the nightlife, or simply enjoy… dead parents by the poolside. Rose!"

The seer hid a smile behind her hand while both boys shouted 'oh snop!' in unison. "You can't prove it was me."

"I know Dave was boold of infidels because he'd find the typo hilarious, and John is black people because he hasn't refreshed his hand in a while."

Rose sighed, smiling in good humor at being caught out. "You have to admit I would have had the point if your memory weren't so good."

"I guess, but since I caught you, and since Dave's is pretty funny too, I'm giving the point to him."

"Hell yeah," The knight cheered, taking his black card and dumping it onto his small pile. "Seriously though, why haven't we invited the others to join us in this? 'Cause Roxy at least would be able to counter Rose's bullshit fortune powers."

"Because three of them wouldn't get half of the jokes, Jane is busy Saturday evenings with her shows, and the trolls don't get any of the jokes we try to make," Jade offered, waiting for John to pick out the next black card.

"That doesn't explain how you get most of them, since you lived on an island too," John pointed out, reaching for the deck while still looking to her for a reply.

"Well, isn't it obvious? I'm friends with you three - I learned most of this stuff in self-defense."

The other three laughed while Jade grinned wildly. If nothing else, the games they played together every weekend truly showed how much they'd come together as friends over their wild lives. If even Mario Party couldn't tear them apart, nothing would, except perhaps whose turn it was to deal with laundry.

~0~0~0~0~

It's a wriggler, somehow outside the caverns despite being just too young to have made it out of the trials, and without any sign of a lusus. Not to mention it's a hideous bright red that the rainbow drinker part of her both wonders and reels at. After all, it could be the most delicious meal she'd ever had, or the last, depending.

The empress has ordered all mutants culled to avoid spoiling the gene pool. Porrim had only just been allowed to exit the caverns to get the supplies the other jadebloods could not make or remake on their own, the predawn sun already preparing to rise over the distant horizon. There was no reason for her to do anything; it would roast on its own in the heat, and perhaps feed a passing lusus with its own, normal charge.

The mutant grub screeched again, wriggling around on the remains of its meteor before falling off and onto its back. It's tiny legs flailed in the air, a hilariously vulnerable display that another grub would have taken advantage of for an easy pretrial meal.

She sighed, sliding down into the crater the thing was crying in, if only to get it to shut up before to drew the attention of the creatures that prowled at this time of night for any prey foolish enough to not be burrowed in sane fear of the sun. It screeched more as she tucked it under an arm, squirming as she quickly clambered back up and stood there, looking out to the distant entrance to the brooding caverns, and then the other way to the nearby settlement she was supposed to be heading towards.

Well, she supposed her cloak could hide the thing enough to protect it from the dawn, and then when she reached the small cospe of trees just before the outer limits of town. Maybe there'd be a lusus or something there that would take the thing, either for a meal or a ward, and then she wouldn't have to worry about it anymore and it wouldn't draw predators to her main route home.

Nodding decisively, she readjusted the squirming screaming bundle of grub under her cloak and made her way onward, hoping the delay from her minor detour wouldn't be noticed by the others; she hated lusus cleaning duty and had no desire to take the task usually left to the younger jades and the punished.

~0~0~

Oh moons it wouldn't shut up. Why wouldn't it shut up? Porrim could feel the headache pounding steadily as she made her way onwards, the morning sun going unappreciated because of the little mutant runt she was ten seconds from leaving to the undead regardless of whether it would put them on her own scent or not. She groaned and pulled out one of the grubloaf bars meant to last her the journey, after a moment deciding she wasn't that hungry and shoved the other half in the runt's mouth.

And then there was blessed silence, the mutant seizing the package with its front claws while it bit into the bland food with an eagerness that was almost admirable. Well, that was one mystery solved nicely, and her headache was fading now, so she made her way onwards, already spying the fuzzy edges to the horizon that marked the closest edge of the cospe.

By the time she finally reached it, it was well into the day, and the grub had fallen asleep, meaning it wouldn't start complaining or wriggling when she tucked it into a cove created by the roots of a few trees. There, let it survive or die on its own - her work here was done. Humming cheerfully, convinced she'd never see the mutant again, she made her way on to the town, going over the list of supplies in her mind and forgetting about the grub almost entirely.

(Meanwhile, in a tree above the suddenly awake, alone, and hungry grub, a rustblood wearing a spectacular green dress took the brief break in her work to laugh at what that poor, unsuspecting jadeblood was destined for. Interesting times, indeed!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another multipost in order to conserve space and stuff, whoops. First one is, obviously, CAH being plays by the beta kids, which tbh would be hilarious to watch probably. I picked one round from a video at random I was watching at the time, then picked the cards that fit people, and then this was a thing.
> 
> Second one is a prompt from the KM basically asking 'uh, trolls don't DO the warm fuzzy parental feelings to babies. So who in the world did Dolorosa manage without that instinct?' I blame time shenanigans, Damara having a good laugh, and a constantly exhausted Porrim who somehow manages to raise a mutant grub to become a rebel leader despite biology working against her.


	11. Terezi's New Lusus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because seriously, how did she get out there on her own?

Though none of her friends knew it, Terezi had had a lusus before she'd met her dragonmom. After all, there was no way an egg could carry a grub hundreds of miles from the brooding caverns, nor a way for a young grub to make her way all the way out to the coastal woods without being eaten or roasting in the sun.

She didn't really remember much about her first lusus, a not so small lizard who'd had a fondness for treetops and basking in the blistering sun while her charge slept. As such, their schedules tended to be separate, her lusus slipping into slumber as the night wore on, not stirring again until Terezi had crawled into her recuperacoon for the morning.

Overall, it wasn't terrible - they had plenty of time together first thing in the evening, while her lusus was still warmed from hunting and basking. The house had been built by a previous charge, cleared of most of their personal effects before they'd left for service, though there was enough left over for a curious young wriggler to get her hands on.

Then Terezi woke up to no lizard mom in sight.

Nights turned into weeks, and even her desperate searching could not find a trace of her lusus. There was no doubts that the old lizard had been eaten by something, and for the first time in her life she sobbed uncontrollably, lost and confused and alone. She didn't even see the huge statue until she'd wandered into it, falling backwards onto her butt as she tried and failed to keep her balance after the impact.

With a teary sniff she looked up, and up, and was momentarily distracted by the huge skull resting on one of the platforms. Whatever lusus it had come from must have been HUGE if that had come from it!

On the other platform was a large round object - like a chirpbeast's eggs, only much larger. With another, less teary sniff she pushed herself back up, trying to find handholds so she could climb up and see if it was real or not.

_Hello?_

Terezi tilted her head and frowned, wondering why she'd thought that.

_Is someone out there?_

She looked back up to the egg. "Are you the egg?"

_Hehehehehe, I'm not an egg, silly._

A smile twitched on her lips at the humor leaking from the other mind. "Then what are you?"

_I'm a dragon… or I will be one day. It's so cold outside my shell, I don't know if I'll be able to hatch for a while._

"I could get you something to warm you…" The young troll offered, thinking of the piles of blankets her old lusus had had to burrow in during the colder nights.

 _No, no, those won't do at all,_ the dragon decided, having seen - or not? - what she was considering. _It has to be really warm; a biiiiiiiiiiiig warm fire would be just right._

"I don't know if I can get you that…" Terezi frowned, not sure if she could get enough wood to manage what a big egg would consider 'big enough'.

 _That's okay, it's still cosy in here,_ the dragon comforted. _And we can still talk, too! I haven't had anyone to talk to in a loooooooooooong time._

Terezi felt she understood how lonely that could get. "I just lost my lusus, so I don't have anyone to talk to anymore either."

_Oh, that's horrible. Maybe I could be your lusus then?_

Terezi blinked. "But aren't you still in the egg?"

_Weeeeeeeell, I can't do much of the stuff other lusus can, but I can still be there for you in spirit! And when I hatch, I'll really be the bestest lusus you've ever seen!_

"Weeeeeeeeell, I guess I can be okay with that," Terezi giggled, feeling better than she had in over a week, and thinking maybe things would be alright after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because seriously, how the hell did Terezi get all the way out to those woods and build a house without a lusus available to help her? I can't think of a good reason, but I guess this might suffice for those of you who are curious like I am.


	12. Friendship Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some drabbles dealing with various friendship aspects, idek tbh.

Even if anyone had cared to notice them, all they would see is two normal teenagers on a date, hand in hand as they wandered the streets. Maybe, if one were particularly adept, one might have been able to tell that there was something a bit… other about them, something not quite right in the way they looked around at the building and people, their voices just low enough to be blurred out by the wind and the crowds around them.

Of course, no one paid any particular mind to the two, just as Roxy wanted right now. She was still getting used to having so many people crowding the streets, nails close to drawing blood from John's despite his reassurances that nothing would happen, and she wasn't sure what she'd do if all these normal, happy people were to actually see her.

It had started as an idle thought, during her time on her own on John's planet in that between place, and had coalesced into a full idea before that shining blue glow marked her new friend's return from his journey.

"Before we go to the new timeline, could we maybe, y'know, go somewhere first?"

John had tilted his head, not judging, thank goodness, and had asked, "Where?"

"...Earth, maybe?"

"But isn't it destroyed? Is there something there you need?"

"No no, not ours, it's not…" Roxy bit her lip. "I want to see what Earth should've been like, without the Batterwitch there to ruin everything!"

He blinked, the mention clicking not long after. "You mean the one I'm from?"

"Yeah…" She ducked her head, feeling stupid for even asking for something like that when obviously they had to get back to their friends. "Sorry, I know we've got other stuff to do first-"

"Alright."

She paused, looking back to see her friend rubbing the back of his head while looking up at the empty sky. A firefly floated past, landing on her shoulder before he looked back to her, for a slight moment looking so sad she wanted to take it back before it was hidden behind a grin. "I mean, it's not like I can't get us back to whatever time we want, and… we might not have time afterwards."

He'd offered a hand, which she barely hesitated in grabbing before the same cool-freeing feeling that had brought LOWAS into the void enveloped her.

When they came out, they were above what looked like the pictures of 'normal' houses from the turn of the century. There was a soft breeze blowing, the sun was warm on her skin, and everything was so marvelously green and colorful and alive that she forgot how to do anything but stare.

Was this what Janey had grown up with? How had she not seen how wonderful and perfect this place was until after they'd already left it all behind?

John's hand tightened on hers, and she looked to him, only to see his own gaze focused elsewhere. As she followed it, she saw through the window of the nearest house, where a man who looked awfully familiar was busy mixing something in a bowl - cake batter, she reminded herself, having seen Jane do similar in times she needed to relax or cheer someone up.

Wait, was that her dad? No wait, that wasn't right, this was supposed to be-

And into the kitchen ran the most adorable and familiar little boy, who had made a face upon seeing what his dad was making. It didn't take much to realize that John had brought them to the right universe, after all - right on top of his old house. Put that together with how Jane had felt after her father had disappeared, and you had one Rogue who knew she had to work fast to keep her friend from having too much time to think.

"Hey, can we go to a city? Whatsat one near Janey, Saddle? Seaturtle?"

John turned to look at her, after a second recognizing the question and grinning. "I think you mean Seattle, and sure; I've been there a few time, it's pretty fun!"

With that the two popped out of existence, leaving the son and father below to go through a too familiar set of motions in their last moments of naivety before the Game began.

~0~0~

"Hold still already!"

"I'm trying," Jade complained, white ears twitching back again at another tugged snarl thanks to the brush. "Maybe you could try not pulling so hard?"

"I'm already being gentle," Karkat complained, though he did seem to put less force into it with the following brush stroke. "It's not my fault your hair's a mess."

"Well, I didn't exactly have much reason to do more than keep it clean," She grumbled, hand wrapped around Dave's as he offered an amused huff. "The consorts didn't care, and Nannasprite never offered to help."

The fact that Karkat had taken one look at her hair once they'd all had a chance to rest and take in the fact that they were finally free of SBURB and immediately declared himself in charge of fixing the 'absolute horrorterror she'd made of it' was both touching and a bit insulting, though the latter was tempered by Dave's sheer amusement at the whole scenario.

"Why do you care so much, anyways? I mean, I bet Kanaya could help me cut it short and style it, and then it wouldn't be in the way so much while I'm working on the gardens and stuff."

Karkat pulled the brush through another time before finally replying. "On Alternia, long hair was a challenge. It was easily grabbable, and could leave you open to a fast culling if you weren't constantly wary. If you had it, you were either saying you didn't care or that you dared someone to make the attempt. Highbloods made an entire fashion statement out of having long, fancy styled hair, and even if I thought the whole thing was dumb, it still says a lot to any troll you talk to from either session."

Dave and Jade exchanged looks, once again reminded of just how awful both troll planets had been in their own ways.

"Well, I'm not really so worried about seeming dangerous," She replied instead, gritting her teeth briefly at another sharp tug through a stubborn snarl before she continued. "I mean, we're all friends here, right?"

"Yeah yeah, we're all human friends," The troll replied with an audible roll of his eyes. "Empress forbid I help give you an edge when dealing with future generations of trolls who'll be too stuffed up their waste chutes to give you the respect you deserve."

"Wait, is that why you and Kanaya've been all up and hinting for the rest of us humans to grow our hair out?" Dave asked suddenly, brow raising from behind his glasses.

"Of course, why else?"

"I just thought you guys had some sort of weird hair fetish and wanted to exploit us poor ignorant aliens like some illegal immigrants trying to make a few bucks to buy our families a new cow."

This time, Jade and Karkat both paused to give him a very confused look.

"...I'll explain later."

~0~0~

"It is way too fucking hot in here," Dave complained, flopped back against the large bed his sister was lying on. "I already had enough of that shit on LOHAC, I don't need it here too."

"Says the person who grew up in a warmer clime," Rose shot back, pearls of sweat dripping despite being down to nothing but a tanktop and shorts. "At least you have the excuse of being used to it."

"Three years is a long ass time to forget how hot things can get, alright? You grew up with snow, but look at how long it took you to get over the cold last winter!"

The seer grumbled over her breath, allowing her face to drop down onto the bedsheets.

"Man, I could seriously kill for an air conditioner or even a working fan right now."

"Then go alchemize one."

"Yeah, lemme just get up and go upstairs, which is even hotter may I remind you, and dick around for half an hour of my time before I remember the codes for them and have them spit one out. Have any other bright ideas?"

She said nothing, and he almost looked up to see if she'd passed out from heat exhaustion, only to feel a hand suddenly clamp on his shoulders. "John has wind powers."

It only took five seconds for the idea to coalesce in his mind as well. "That fucker's been hogging all the cool air, hasn't he?"

"He's with Jade; call her, have her bribe him to get his behind over here and do us all a community service."

"I don't know if that counts as one."

"It is when I'll go out and blast a path to him otherwise."

"Duly noted."

At the least, John took the request in good humor, sending the Breeze on a self-feeding loop that promptly brought down the temperature of the entire house by at least ten degrees. The smooches he got from both of them, not so much, but he would just have to live with it for as long as this heat wave lasted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three drabbles here, because they're all pretty short and I figure I might as well just toss them together. Nothing super fancy or exciting, just some friendship stuff and some ideas for potential extended fic things should I have the motive.
> 
> Also hey, I got through April with a drabble (or indulgent thing) everyday! Not bad for a self-imposed challenge in a fandom I haven't written much for until now.


	13. Timed Quest Woes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which John messes up and his friends help out anyways.
> 
> [Gamer AU (which indeed is separate to canon despite canon literally being the players living through a video game).]

"Rose, I really need your help right now!" John all but slammed into the doorway, the breeze on his heels sending some of his friend's parchment flying away.

"What happened this time?" She sighed, flicking her wand to get the stray papers to start floating back to her while she frowned at him.

"Well, ah, you remember when we had that talk about things we wouldn't do without letting the others know at first?" He scratched at a cheek, failing miserably at hiding his flush.

"Did you accidentally secude several of the Ravenclaw girls again?"

John sputtered. "No, I-"

"Ah, so it was the boys, then? I always knew that that tight rump of yours would be too tempting for those isolated souls-"

"Rose, this is serious-"

"Of course it is! I'll have to get the others to help wean down your suitors to one we feel would best support you after we finish our schooling-"

"I started a timed quest and I don't know how to delete it and I only have an hour to find all the dumb scrolls around the castle before I get points lost and we might lose rep with the library and I don't want you and Jade to kill me for it!"

Rose frowned further, dropping her book on top of her papers to hold them in place while turning her full attention to her friend. "Show me."

"Er, menu?"

The world froze, the familiar menu screen floating to their side - with the exception of the flashing gold hourglass next to the 'Questlog'. Opening it with another command, Rose skimmed over the text as quickly as possible, already preparing to spend her daily cooldown of her Insight in order to help her friend finish this off as quickly as possible.

"Books borrowed and lost by careless roommates, due back before dinner, victory gives five hundred experience for each participant and reputation gain with the library, failure leads to reputation loss and reduced chance to gain access to Restricted Section in the future. Well, I suppose we have no choice but to grab Dave and Jade and get to tracking, shouldn't we?"

John frowned thoughtfully. "I think they might still be down at the lake?"

"You have another two minutes on yours windwalking, that's enough time to get them inside and searching the lower levels. Two of them are in the Great Hall - I can track down another two and meet you there in five minutes, and the rest should be along an easy enough route towards the library."

John exhaled and grinned. "I can do that - thanks, Rose! You're a lifesaver!"

Rose rolled her eyes and tried to hide a smile. "It's merely pragmatic to keep as many avenues to knowledge available as possible, and I would like to see if there are any spells in the restricted area that can permanently remove possessions on objects and people alike."

"Lil Cal?"

"Lil Cal. You'd best make the jump from the window now, while no one else is watching and you still have a minute left to keep you from exploding into a gory mess upon contact with the floor."

"I'm going, sheesh," John gave his friend a quick hug, closing the menu quickly before vaulting out the window behind her.

Rose shook her head and picked up all her things, dumping them into her personal inventory before reasserting her gaze on the locations she'd need to go to get the quest items. At least he'd done the sensible thing and come to her first - without the experience points she'd dumped into unlocking her most critical abilities, this quest would have been all but impossible.

Then again, a few years ago she would have thought SBURB being an even larger and more incomprehensible game than any of the four had initially thought would have been impossible as well. Still, she couldn't say living out books and shows for themselves wasn't interesting in far less traumatizing ways to the core game.

(She couldn't imagine how much worse it'd have been if it hadn't taken only one Game Over to figure out how to beat the main game!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, I saw a few Gamer fics for other fandoms and thought they were interesting, except for the fact that all of them were too, well, mechanics heavy and not enough on how that affected the character and those around them. And then I thought 'well, what if SBURB were the gateway into a Gamer type setting?' since the two are very similar.
> 
> Just make the game multiplayer (aka the four Beta Kids playing instead of just John), and you have a recipe for what would probably be a VERY interesting and very fun exploration of how the kids go through the motions of a game that they've already been playing for years and thus know most of the mechanics to.
> 
> This might or might not be a project I do after I get through the Alterniate History Post-Game AU.


	14. Refugees From The Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For all they resemble demons, it was obvious to her that these people were anything but.
> 
> [Warcraft X-over, Non-Game AU]

It was hard, on getting her first look at them, to keep her bow at her side instead of already aiming an arrow. They looked, far, far too much like the demons she and her people had fought for millennia, from the sharp teeth and claws to the horns jutting from their heads.

But Tyrande was not so hasty as to miss the children among their number, huddled behind a variety of adults and their bleached-white beasts, nor had she missed the exhaustion in their leader's eyes, even as she stood between the elves and her own people. She would give them a chance, even if she might regret it later.

"We don't want to fight," The empress told her. "We just need a place for our helmsmen to recover before we move on."

"Do you need healers?" Tyrande asked. "I have several here who could help."

"Our best medicullers are already looking after them," The empress turned down. "I wouldn't be against trading for food, though - especially the kind that can last a while."

The night elf priestess frowned in thought. "We do not have a huge surplus to spare, but our allies might. I would have to get in contact with them, but depending on what you have to trade I do not see them turning you away."

The other woman nodded, only to go stiff when the crowd behind her went silent. Their reasoning quickly became apparent as they parted, a ghost with no small amount of death magic around her approaching the two leaders.

"Aradia."

"Empress." The ghost replied curtly. "They've been here."

The empress's grip around her trident tightened. "How long?"

"Thousands of sweeps ago, and then only recently. The spirits here are restless, especially near you."

"Then was she…" The empress turned back to Tyrande. "You've fought the Legion?"

"We drove them back multiple times," She replied. "Their latest attempt was several years ago."

"You did? Even the Condesce?"

Tyrande's memory brought up the visage of the demoness who'd attacked the World Tree, and had in turn been slain by Malfurion and the numerous guardians within the tree itself. "My husband called on the spirits of the World Tree to destroy her."

Whispers spread through the crowd at that, though their empress remained focused on her. "And if they brought the full might of their armies, you would stand against them?"

"They will not claim Azeroth so long as any of us draws breath."

And now the empress was grinning, bringing back the resemblance to that old foe and giving Tyrande a very good idea of why these newcomers seemed so familiar.

"You wouldn't object to some more help with them, would you?"

~0~0~0~0~

The small group of panthers and lions been stalking the newcomers since they'd entered the Moonglade several hours ago, keeping to the shadows to avoid detection. Not all could keep their teeth from baring at the sight of the mechanical steeds the outsiders were riding, something not quite anathema to the nature-bound beings, but none made a move to attack them. Their intentions were, as far as most were concerned, peaceful until proven otherwise, and so they followed their leader faithfully through the convenient exercise in stealth.

One of the group, however, was lagging behind, crouching low as she danced around the edge of the forest. Her tail twitched once, and she darted forward again, keeping an eye out for a usable distraction to get in closer still.

There! One of the others had accidentally stumbled over a branch - while the instructor's gaze flickered to them to make sure they were uninjured, she darted across the path, her white fur gleaming in a patch of moonlight before she was cloaked in shadows again, away from anyone who could keep her from greeting the party properly.

It was easy to get ahead, her lithe body dancing around trees and over brambles like she'd been born to the form, and her growing knowledge of the woods let her find the perfect vantage point just ahead of the group. It would only be a minute for them to be within striking range, and then… oh, she couldn't hold back her grin now, not when satisfaction was at hand!

As such, by the time the leader of the party turned the bend, she was already poised to leap, only giving him a split second to register the creak of the branch she sprang from before being tackled off his mechanical musclebeast and to the ground. With a pleased growl she dove in for the kill, stuffing her nose right into the sensitive spot right beside his chin.

He yelped as the ticklish feeling before shoving her off, the gentle gesture belying the force she knew she could have shoved her with if he hadn't immediately recognized her. "Nepeta, I would appreciate you restraining such pale greetings until we are on our own next time."

"Aw, but it was fun, Equius!" Nepeta complained, allowing her moirail to get back to his feet. "Besides, I haven't seen you in furrever, and I wanted to show you my manebeast form! Don't I look just like mom?"

He adjusted his glasses, looking her over critically. "Your current appearance does resemble your lusus, I suppose."

With a wide grin she shifted forms, returning to her natural Alternian form, abet in the training clothes of the druids instead of her old outfit. She then grabbed him into a hug, pulling back to look him over critically. "Oh, the Empurress promoted you! Is that what you came all the way here to show me?"

Equius coughed again, far more conscious of the stares of the rest of the group he'd been leading up until then. "Actually, I am here on orders to better relations with the druids by offering some more potential students for training-"

"You can't lie to me, mister," She laughed, pressing a finger to his chest. "She could have sent anyone here - I know Tavros would have been purrfect for the task - and you're sweating too. Just admit it already."

He sighed and tried his best to hide his amused smile behind a stern frown, but she knew him far too well to miss it. "Be that as it may, I still have a task to attend to, so if you wish to catch up, it will be while we continue towards the town."

"Alright," Nepeta agreed easily, waiting for him to remount his musclebeast before hopping on behind him, mind already whirling with all the questions she had about the rest of their friends and the other trolls and the rebuilding effort.

The most important part, however, was that her moirail was the best moirail, and nothing could keep them apart so long as either of them had a say in things.

~0~0~0~0~

Of all the races of the Alliance, the Gnomes were by far the most intrigued by their new, extraterrestrial allies. After all, the secrets of travelling the stars were still being worked out by their best minds (when not otherwise occupied by other issues, such as trogg infestations or demon invasions), and here was a race who'd already cracked the secrets of the universe!

"This. Is. Completely unsanitary!"

The Alternian troll (as opposed to the superstitious, isolationist, and rather hostile Azerothian trolls) lifted his gaze from his programming to the gnome engineer, mismatched gaze making his flat expression even more potent. "It's meant to help the software's antivirus systems get used to fighting off anything that could corrupt data or programs - the more it fights off now, the better it'll be."

The gnome soldiered on, running her Portable Diagnostic Assistant Mark VII over one of the 'finished' programmed grubs. It was a marvel of biologically-based-technology, something that had been considered but discarded as being too unreliable for mass use, but these alien trolls had actually torn apart the underlying code for all living things (with flesh, anyways) and had repurposed it to, well, everything. The benefits of programming in quaternary instead of binary opened up entire new potentialities in terms of what it was possible to run in such a small package, and the chance of something running rampant was much less likely when the thing running the program didn't have limbs or guns.

On the other hand, it squirmed when you prodded it. And that? That was seriously gross.

Urgh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So once upon a time, I wondered what would happen if you replaced one set of aliens with a different set. In this case, I replace the Holy magic, crystal-tech Draenei with the Shadow magic, bio-tech Alternian trolls, and well, it would be quite a different story going on there.
> 
> If I did try to fill out this idea, I'd probably write it so that people who haven't read Homestuck will still have a general idea of what's going on (especially since knowledge of the plot of Homestuck itself would be unnecessary). There'd also probably be a lot of exploration into how Alternia uses magic in contrast to Azeroth, as well as some minor freak out over how Empress Feferi was raised by a freaking Old God and somehow came out of it completely sane. Or mostly sane, anyways.
> 
> It's hilarious how that might actually make her stupidly OP on Azeroth, since she could probably walk up to Yogg'saron or C'thun or any of them and literally just. Start talking to them. Because they remind her of her mom of all things.


	15. Final Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose notes a serious problem in repopulation the session, but fortunately, she has John available to take on the challenge.
> 
> [Post-Game AU, some Act 7 / Credits Spoilers]

"This won't be enough."

John looked up to Rose, trying his best to keep the two ectokids crawling on him from falling and potentially injuring themselves. "What, this batch?"

The Seer shook her head, lips pursed. "No, I was running the calculations with Jade, and… this isn't enough genetic diversity. Even with the appearifier and the cloning machines doing their best to randomize genes, they're still, well, too closely related. The effects might not show immediately, but I imagine it would only take a few generations for some unfortunate defects to start rising out of the depths of our genetic material."

"We don't exactly have a lot of options, though, even with Dad's - er, Jane's Dad's mom's stuff providing a bit extra. We can't target people outside the universe - just vary up what we do have." John put the kids down to play with some troll grubs, the two species getting on much like a house on fire.

Which would have explained Karkat's constant yelling if he weren't the type to raise his volume for just about everything that annoyed him.

But Rose did have a point - they had all of nine humans in this new world right now, and since they were already closely related, that meant that the options the ectobiologist had were limited. The trolls, of course, were already a species prone to incestuous relations, due to all of them being born from the same mother grub and returning their genetic material to her every generation, and thus had no comprehension of why the humans were so concerned about the issue.

Rose, however, had a sly smile on now. "Precisely - we can't target anything outside of our universe for genetic material. However, we have the machinery to allow us back into SBURB whenever we like, and I do recall one of our number possessing the ability to hop around time and space given a few simple directions."

John immediately saw where this was going. "We're kidnapping people from our old Earths?"

"Among other things." She pulled out a large sheet of paper from her sylladex, setting it down on one of the few free spaces in the room as she sketched out her idea. "I was thinking back on what your Nannasprite said, about many sessions failing to reproduce successfully. But, as Davesprite has proven, those timelines can continue on indefinitely, until all the players involved have died or otherwise given themselves to the void."

John frowned, finger tracing right over the bubbles containing either frogs or no frogs. There were a lot more of the latter, it seemed, and it struck him then how many other kids had played SBURB, not expecting anything of what was to come.

So many kids who wouldn't have had the help of a bunch of alien players to figure out what they needed to do and warn them of trouble ahead of time.

"How many do we need to find?" He asked, looking back to one of his oldest and closest friends.

"We need at least five hundred people for a decent genetic base, but I'd be more comfortable with at least three thousand." Rose pursed her lips again briefly. "For all my insight has frustrated me in the past, now is one of the few times where more accurate information would be extremely helpful. Alas, Terezi and I should be able to get you started, at least - and provide you a waypoint back to us."

"I… guess I'm in for it then. But I reserve right to ignore Terezi's stuff if it's just to troll me again."

"Don't worry, I'll check over everything on the list before I give it to you," Rose promised, an innocent smile on her lips.

John groaned. "I'm already doomed, aren't I?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, a dumb little idea based on a few other concepts. One, of course, being a fic or idea out there on the net somewhere with the idea of repopulating the New Earth with the players of failed sessions, thus serving a double purpose of helping Skaia clean up those sessions by removing the players and also adding genetic diversity and more resources to draw from.
> 
> Another idea is more one of my own, with John in his boredom hopping around to check out various AUs and whatnot. He might or might not bring friends along for some of these adventures, making friends along the way and altering the timelines away from otherwise desperate fates. Could be an interesting series of drabbles to write for, and include participation on. Hmm.


	16. Under The Bed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are monsters under Jade's bed, and she's determined to find out where they come from.
> 
> [Non-game, not serious in the least]

There are monsters under her bed.

Most kids, upon discovering this, might be frightened, running to their parents to get said monsters to go away, but not Jade Harley, oh no! She was a scientist, like her grandpa, and that meant that even at the tender young age of five, she already knew the best way to face the unknown and scary was to track it down and make it reveal its secrets!

(Of course, grandpa sometimes was a bit silly, like when he talked about aliens taking over through baking cakes, but Jade still loved him anyways.)

She squirmed under her sheets, her trusty rifle hidden under her so Grandpa Harley wouldn't ask why she had it out of its storage closet. Sure, he would almost definitely help her quest if she found out about it, but he already had so many papers and discoveries to his name, and she wanted to have an adventure all her own! She was _five_ , you'd think he'd start treating her more like a grown-up already, sheesh!

And so she waited impatiently for his slow steps up to her room, his respect for the privacy of her bedroom keeping him from transportalizing directly up into it even if it was easier on his old bones. She kept her eyes closed and her mouth hidden so he wouldn't see her biting her lip, for once sighing inside as he pressed a quick kiss to her forehead and ruffled her hair, eventually returning to the transportalizer and vanishing in a small flash of light.

Finally! She shoved her sheets off, grabbed her glasses, and rolled off the bed, landing quietly with her rifle already clutched tightly to her chest. As always, it was dark under her bed, but she knew that would change once she got further in, she knew it - after all, the monsters had to come from /somewhere/, them spontaneously bursting into existence was just plain dumb and unscientific.

That reminded her, actually - she pushed herself up to her feet again, quickly running over to grab her captchack (the latest in convenient ethernet storage!), containing her electronic journal, flashlight, portable fridge and cookalizer, and, of course, a towel. Now fully prepared for however long an expedition she would be on, she got back on her stomach, stuffed everything but the flashlight into her captchack, and started bolding crawling where no explorer had crawled before.

~0~0~

Aradia yawned and stretched as she rinsed off the last of the sopor slime, luxuriating briefly in the cool spray of water before shutting off the water. As she dried, she thought over the ruins she was thinking of exploring that day, close enough that she'd only be away for a single day, camping out in the catacombs and translating the old texts from a forgotten era.

With a smile at the thought, she finished getting dressed and darted out of her room, eager to get started on breakfast so that she could be out as quickly as possible. Her lusus, bless her, had already pulled out the grubflakes without attempting to actually serve them, sparing the young troll the need to clean up again.

She'd just taken her first bite when said lusus entered from the hall, carrying Aradia's huskpad. With a groan she wondered which of those stupid schoolfeeds she'd forgotten this time, forcing her to delay her plans as she worked through the problems and listen to all the videos talking about how great the empire was. She couldn't even leave it running while she did something else - it sensed whether she was within earshot and blared enough to make ramgaroomom whine whenever she was outside of its range.

To her surprise, however, it wasn't hivework that awaited her, but a message from one of her best friends, the brownblooded boy who lived seawards from her.

As she read over the short message, basically pleading for her help in dealing with the unknown creature that had crawled out from the caverns under his hive, a new grin stretched across her face. Forget those other ruins, here was a chance to be just like the legendary archaeventurist Beastwhip, taking down otherworldly creatures from the distant past with nothing but his wits and his whip!

With a squee she left her half-eaten bowl of cereal on the table, grabbing her adventurer's bag and flying off in a blaze of psionics the moment she'd cleared the front door. No sense in waiting around when there was mysteries to solve!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know why this popped into my head, but you can't tell me this wouldn't be the most adorable fic ever.


	17. Refugees, additional drabbles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some additional scenes potentially from later on in the story. Based on drabble from Chapter 14.

The world burned green in her dream, and Tyrande could do nothing.

Before her stood the despised visage of the demoness who had corrupted the Well of Eternity, fel fires gleaming behind her fangs as she strode forward, intent on the dreamer. Tyrande lifted her bow and shot, only for it to be deflected, the arrow's path such that for just a second her eyes were drawn back to the dead body of her husband before the Night Elf priestess forced herself to focus on her opponent again.

Tyrande had never doubted that, while severely weakened, the demoness had never truly died that day, and that one day she would come back and tear the world to pieces if they were not ready for it. Tyrande had also never doubted that, barring a miracle of unity among all the races of the world, they stood no chance if the full brunt of the Legion came upon them.

The demoness stopped, grin fading into a confused scowl, and shadows started to seep past the priestess' feet without touching her. She turned to see a dozen black lights growing, banishing the fel flames and even healing the world it touched on, and with a shriek the demoness ran past her to attack them-

"Lady Tyrande!"

She snapped back to the waking world, pushing herself up from her prone position and blinking green flames from her vision even as she looked to the guard who had interrupted the strange vision. "Yes?"

The guard snapped into a hasty reporting stance. "The night watch have reported seeing something falling towards the isles to the south."

"Falling stars?" No, the guards would not barge in for something so common, and the timing to her almost-prophetic dream…

"They came in too cleanly, and started slowing by the time someone thought to alert you." The guard took a breath. "Your orders, my Lady?"

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, and responded. "Prepare the ships - whoever or whatever it might be, it will not go unchallenged any longer than necessary."

~0~0~

"Elune give us strength," The high priestess whispered hours later, standing aboard the fastest of the ships that had just managed to throw together enough to launch by the time she'd arrived at the docks. Teldrassil had diminished noticeably, but the boughs could just be seen as a smudge on the horizon as they approached the isles where the burning lights had come down.

Where they were now, unfortunately, was still impossible to tell with the storm just rolling in. The islands were not large, by any means, but they still had enough hills and foliage to hide behind from the shoreline. Depending on their size, it could take weeks of searching to find whatever was attempting to hide.

Elune's light briefly broke through the clouds, illuminating a long strip of beachway. Just large enough, in fact, to pull up the boats while they started into the trees. Offering a brief prayer of thanks to Elune, Tyrande called for the boats to land, patiently waiting in the rain until the boats had come up onto sand to step off.

Regardless of how long they had to search, Elune would be with them - and that offered more comfort than anything else she could think of.

========

Pyralspite had only been out of her egg for two weeks when she smelled something warm-red trying to hide under the face of one of those 'elves' her charge and the others had made friends with. Her tail twitched, but she didn't move, waiting for the strange new not-elf to come closer so she could get a better smell of it while also letting Terezi know.

' _Are you sure?'_ was sent back towards her, concern in her voice even as part of her mind was distracted with easing herself out of the conversation she'd been in with sweat-and-oil.

(There was still something a bit funny about her charge being all grown up and still with her - so many other wrigglers had come and gone past her egg, but this one had been the first to stay, even fighting to bring the unwieldy and massive egg onto the ships when it would have been easier to leave her behind. Not that she was complaining, especially since they'd managed to save five other dragon eggs too! It'd certainly made all those sweeps asleep in the cold place easier to handle.)

' _This one smells like leaves painted over apples!'_ She insisted, turning her mind briefly to the other other awake dragon. ' _Doesn't it?'_

' _Hmm?'_ Came the slow reply, Almandine lifting his head to sniff in her direction from his sunbathing spot on a large rock. ' _I can't really- oh, there's a breeze, I can smell it too.'_

' _Alright, I've alerted Equius, he'll get the others in case things go bad.'_

Pyralspite hummed, sleeping breaths drawing in enough color to track the stranger coming closer to Spessartine, who'd curled up next to the temporary hive her charge was living in with several other wrigglers. Andradite, Grossular, and Uvarovite were sleeping together a bit further away, though upwind enough that she was fairly certain there wasn't another apple-hiding near them. Still, she alerted her charge, who reassured that sweat-oil would protect them as well.

And then Terezi was there, comforting colors firmly in the dragon's nostrils, and Pyralspite couldn't resist uncurling enough to pester her for scratches in the itchy growing spots along her neck. It was so, so good to finally be out of that egg and able to be with her!

~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Apparently dragons were not going to be quite as novel as previously thought. Terezi felt she probably should have realized that when the elves failed to react with more than surprise - most sane beings were nervous around dragons at first until they realized the babies were bundles of friendliness and curiosity for the first sweep or five.

On the other hand, watching all six hatchlings crawling all over the revealed cherry-red dragon (and wasn't that about the last thing she was expecting!) was an amazing way to ease whatever tensions had come from there being a freaking unknown being in the middle of their camp. The fact that the dragon was taking it with the quiet loss of dignity that came with handling (relative) newborns did more to earn Terezi's trust than any amount of talk could have.

"So you're the lusii for the whole planet, then?"

"Based on your description of it, I suppose you could consider us that, yes," Amralastrasza replied easily, gaze shifting briefly to Spessartine as the drake tried to lick at one of the simple gold bands around the older dragon's wrist. "The five flights were tasked a hundred thousand years ago to make certain the mortal races survive, which has not always been easy to accomplish."

Terezi nodded, having seen the stress looking after so many people could put on a relative immortal's shoulders.

"Did the dragons of your world serve a similar purpose, then?" The dragon asked. "I noticed you only have a few here, all children…"

The troll snorted. "Nah, they're mostly special in how long lived they are compared to most lusii, as well as how rare they are. They're also one of the few lusii who aren't caste-exclusive, which makes it even less likely for any particular wriggler to end up raised by one. If they ever did anything else, there's no records we could recover."

"I see," The red dragon replied, looking over the hatchlings again. "I will admit, the Queen will want to come meet them herself ones she learns of them - she's always had a soft spot for children, and with these ones left as orphans, she might consider keeping a few of our number here to make sure they aren't hurt."

Terezi snorted again. "Trust me, we spent way too much effort getting them off Alternia and keeping them alive in their shells for five thousand sweeps to let anything happen to them, but I can't say meeting other dragons wouldn't be interesting. Just give us warning next time, ya know? We're all just a _tiny_ bit paranoid about intruders."

"Understood."

~0~0~0~0~0~0~

"Sollux, bring me down," Feferi commanded, focused entirely on the massive structure below that was the source of the whisperings that all her people had been feeling since they'd arrived on this frozen continent.

"I still think this is a stupid idea, just so you know," Her matesprit replied, claws tightening around her arms.

"But it might be the best one this world has," She replied softly. "I could reign in one old god at a wriggler, and you heard the costs it took them to permanently put down another one."

The other races of this world simply did not understand how she could have come out of being raised by such a being with her mind intact, and it wasn't like that. Mother was - well, had been - her greatest protector, and her greatest burden. Having to regularly bring the corpses of other lusii just to keep her own quiet and satiated… it was a burden no child should have had to go through, and one she only survived because of Eridan.

She had never been in control of her lusus. She'd been it's _sacrifice_ , all to keep her people alive.

Mother had told her, once, of the mutant seadweller that had once swum up to her sunken city, interrupting her dreams with its pitiful cries. It had been rejected by all potential lusii, left to fend for itself after it made it through the trials. The first fuschia-blood, the first empress, the first sacrifice to the unimaginable god. True, her own powers were great, inherited from that first blessing over life and death from their shared lusus long ago, and she would not have been able to keep her friends alive for so long even with the cryo chambers without them, but the constant awareness of being the only thing between an Old God and the death of billions…

It was a good thing, perhaps, that her heiresses would not have to suffer the same burden. Depending on how today went, she might even leave them a legacy to be proud of.

Sollux, despite all his grumbling, did eventually wrap her in his psiionics and guide her down to the ground below, his own feet hitting shortly before hers. Snow crackled under her feet, the cold starting to wrap around her as the psiionics faded away.

One way or another, she was going to prove herself tonight.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~

"Do you know why Gl'bgolyb protected heiresses instead of just killing them?"

"...because it was the only lusus who could raise them?" Tavros answered uncertainly.

Feferi shook her head. "The first tyrian was a violet mutant - no lusus wanted her. When she ran into Gl'bgolyb, she should have been eaten, but she wasn't."

"And that's a bad thing?" Karkat asked, though some of the heat was lost with Feferi outright stating she was mutant.

"Eridan, you remember how often we had to feed her, right?" She asked instead, looking to her first friend.

"Er, once a perigee or so, right?" The violet frowned.

"For something so large, don't you think she should have needed a lot more food than that?" The empress demanded. "Even with my influence?"

"I… didn't really want to think about it."

Feferi sighed. "She never cared about the flesh. What she fed on was despair, anguish, fear. When my ancestor came to her, my mother saw creating a lineage of empresses would provide more food than simply continuing to manipulate the troll race into violence and bigotry. She created my line, my lineage, specifically to create the empire."

Her head sunk, hiding her eyes briefly. "The Condesce was her perfect daughter - not only brutally putting down every attempt at bringing forth justice and equality, but taking her destruction to the stars to feed my mother even more. I realized a long time ago that if not for the Legion, I would have died on her trident, because I was too soft, too kind - I would have kept her from eating, and so it would be either my life… or all of yours."

"But the Legion changed things. It was something that she could not overcome or influence and that would not tolerate her existence. She… she was going to sing, you know, when the Condesce came - make one last attempt to kill the race so that she could win in the end. I- I used all of my strength, and turned her power on herself, destroyed her from the inside. The prophecy, the story, the truth, all of it - that was her way of mocking my betrayal, telling me I'd never find a home for my people, that I wasn't worthy of leading them to salvation."

"But you did," Nepeta assured her, eyes wide. "And we wouldn't have made it without you to keep everyone together when we all doubted our future."

"I know, and I don't regret it, but…" She shook her head. "I might be the last empress. I don't know whether any heiress after me will retain our longevity or strength without Gl'bgolyb to reapply it, and I don't even know if I should considering the history of my blood. Tyrian - Tyrants - that's all any empress before me has been, and I thought for ages that I could change it, could make Alternia into a world to be proud of…"

"But how can I say that when the only life I've given them is one of constant fear, of children having daymares of being taken by the Legion? How can I say that when I've had to end the lives of millions of healthy grubs because there wasn't enough room, wasn't enough food, to raise them all?" Feferi felt tears starting to roll down her cheeks. "I've caused just as much despair as my ancestors, and I don't even have a glubbing old god as an excuse! What sort of legacy is that?"

Aradia, who had until then given no reaction to the word vomit of despair, gave one low sigh and used a smidgen of her psionics to slap the empress across the face. "A better one than leaving us all dead or monsters, at the least."

"But I…"

"Shush, you've had your rant, now shut up," The ghost cut her off. "Yes, you've fucked up a lot - you've been treading new ground, reinventing entire aspects of our culture from the underground up. Yes, your ancestors were all megalomaniacal tyrants, all of us had bloodthirsty and violent ancestors at one point… except maybe Karkat, all things considered.

"In the end, though, you managed to defy both the Condesce and your lusus - can you think of any other being in the universe who would have had the guts at seven sweeps to kill an old god and run from a new one? And then go on to keep the surviving people alive for _five thousand sweeps_ with only the help of one cynical ghost and a bunch of kids who grew up only knowing the ships?" Aradia shook her head, a smile coming to her lips. "Yes, you could have done better, but considering you rejected two ends to our species and found a way out, even I think you can be forgiven for not being a pinnacle of trolldom."

"I'm going to agree with her," Tavros spoke up next, rubbing the back of his head. "Uh, like, I know that I wasn't, ah, awake all that often, because of my short lifespan, but from what I saw, everyone seemed pretty happy? Uh, compared to how they were on Alternia. Even the lusii seemed, ah, fairly alright with everything? It wasn't, you know, great, because they didn't have too much room for themselves, or their wrigglers, but they all were able to keep raising them, which made them happy enough."

"And as for the grubs," Kanaya continued, chin raised, "It's hardly like you were the one deciding which ones lived or died. It was my idea, in fact, that alerted you to the problem, and the jades since then have done everything they can to keep the numbers needing to be culled as low as possible while still keeping the mother grub and our numbers healthy. Without that, we'd have probably starved ourselves our long ago, or else risked the life of the mothergrub herself."

"Feh, it's not like you had the only lusus who you had to kill for," Vriska pointed out casually. "You saw my mom once, right? _Way_ too big for the ships, so I had to blow her up with one of those shitty apocalypse devices Eridan paid me to make for him. And she didn't even like lusus meat! No, I had to feed her freaking _kids_ , and look at how I was for a while because of that! If I'd had to deal with your lusus - ulgh! Hate to admit it, but I _probably_ would have ended up like the Condesce, or worse. Better we ended up with a softie like you."

"Fishysis," Gamzee stared, a rare serious expression on his face. "I've never cared a motherfuckin' bit about blood or lususes or anything like that, even before we left Alternia. I've told Karbro this, and I'll tell you, too - you're a motherfuckin' miracle, through and through, and there ain't nothin' about you to be ashamed of."

"You managed to overhaul the helmsman system so that it was safe and ethical to use almost the perigee after we'd gotten away from the system," Sollux pointed out, rubbing at his arm where long-healed scars had once been. "Even though none of us would have complained with the alternative hot on our heels."

"You went back for my lusus," Terezi added matter of factly. "And for those of other kids who couldn't reach them immediately. You should've have had to, not with time so tight in the end, but you did it anyways."

Eridan grimaced. "I was a shitty moirail for a while, back before everything went to the veil in a handbasket, but you still managed to keep it together enough to get everything organized and delegate to the kids who could handle what you couldn't. Fuck, none of us were older than eight sweeps, we should have all given up and died one way or another, but you pulled the greatest double reacharound paradox space has ever known even when the stress must've been killing ya, and save all us ungrateful jerks."

"I never would have had the time or the chance to unlearn my uncouth attitudes if it weren't for you," Equius admitted finally. "I am not proud of the child I was back then, and am strongly thankful you gave me and other highbloods - coldbloods, excuse my slip - the chance to live up to your visionary leadership."

"And all of us are really purroud to be your friends!" Nepeta finished with a wide smile, finally leaping from her seat to give Feferi a tight hug. "So don't be sad anymore, okay? We're all here for you."

"Yeah, save the moaning for when you die," Aradia agreed, patting her on the shoulder. "Aren't fuschias supposed to be above that sort of thing?"

Feferi couldn't help the giggle of relief that escaped her, because really, what were the odds of her having eleven amazing friends like these?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I had some bursts of inspiration for things to look into should I properly organize everything into a fic. Well, I mean I technically do have the first two parts of a fic done, with more potentially on the way, but I'm not gonna post them until I have a decent amount written and I know where I'm going, so... yeah, enjoy.


	18. Pernstuck: TOS and TNG

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few snippets of a potential Pern/Homestuck x-over and AU.

 

((Pernstuck, the original series!))

Dirk Strider frowned as he sat back in his chair, wondering why he'd been unable to focus today on his modifications to the flamethrowers he and the other gold riders were taking out to fight Thread next time it passed overhead. Normally he could lose himself easily in the task, forgetting the hours passing by until his husband or one of his friends came by to drag him out and shove food down his throat.

In the back of his mind, he could feel Yaldabaoth stir restlessly, her sunning interrupted by the same twitchiness that was affecting him. _You alright?_

 _I want to fly,_ she complained grumpily, her emotions swirling as she became more alert.

 _I can be out there in a few minutes,_ He replied, setting his equipment down. Maybe some time in the sky would ease whatever was bothering him.

 _No, I want to fly **now** ,_ she snapped, tail swishing in agitation. _I want to fly and fly until I touch the stars, and I dare anyone here to stop me._

He frowned, feeling her emotions roil more. He also knew, with certainty, that she had broadcast that to everyone, startling several bronzes out of their own naps in response. His grip on the table tightened as he realized what was about to happen.

Flight.

Several other golds had already gone through the process, driving all the riders involved as close to madness as was possible for otherwise friendly, normal people. Even his brother, usually as good as controlling himself as Dirk was, had been in a half-there daze, dragged along with his dragon as a consequence of the bond no one has anticipated.

And the aftermath… the poor, confused couples who had others, but had gone as their dragons did…

God, he would never forgive himself if he slept with anyone other than Jake, but Jake had a wher, and wasn't here, and he could already feel himself being dragged from his body and his self as she stalked the horses, grabbing one by the neck and killing it before it had a chance to scream. She drank out its blood, licking her lips as she stepped back from the corpse to call her challenge.

_Chase me if you dare!_

And she was airborne, and he was as well, Yaldabaoth consuming him whole as her wings caught an updraft, climbing quickly even as the bronzes rose to her challenge. She didn't care for any of them at the moment, more focused on the thrum of desire in her blood and bones, to fly and fly and never look back, for what weak bonds could keep her tied to such a miserable thing as the ground? She was a Queen, and she bowed to no one!

The first bronze approached, his lust and eagerness already apparent, and she huffed and dropped away, catching speed as she fell and pleased to see she scattered the others attempting to approach from below. She caught another updraft and climbed again, dipping behind a cloud briefly as she considered her suitors.

She wanted one who was fast, clever, and would give her a good first clutch. Hephaeth would be good, but some part of her thought that might not be good in the long term - oh well, there were others, he would live with the disappointment. Perhaps-

"Dirk, Dirk!"

And who was that interrupting her thoughts! Why, the sheer nerve of that human-

Dirk came back to himself with a gasp, face stinging as he looked up into Jake's frustrated, worried expression. He could feel Yaldabaoth's moment of shock, having forgotten he'd existed as well, before returning her focus to the bronzes attempting to take advantage of her hesitance. She'd still outfly them all, with or without a human along for the ride!

"I- What did I…"

"You almost broke your flamethrower," Jake explained, sitting down alongside Dirk and grabbing his hands.

Dirk glanced over, seeing the device had indeed been moved out of the way, which he was more than thankful for. "Jake, I'm so-"

"It's not your fault - we knew this would happen eventually, and I'm just glad Jade was with Dave when the Flight started."

"Is he-" Dirk asked, trying his hardest not to fall back into the swirl of amused passion and emotionality that had shaken his confidence in his self-control.

"Jade's working on getting him out of the lust right now, I think," His husband replied. "We weren't sure whether we'd be able to do anything, and you looked ready to maul me when I tried…"

Dirk's hands tightened around Jake's, offering a tight smile. "It's getting easier - she's more focused on them, so I can block her out without her fussing for once. Hold me?"

Even as the words left his lips he flinched, not used to admitting to emotional needs verbally, but Jake understood, moving over to his lap and wrapping arms around him.

"Has she chosen someone yet?" Jake asked, lips close to his forehead.

"No, she's still flying loops around them," Dirk laughed softly, more able to appreciate the enjoyment his dragon was getting out of this now that he wasn't being dragged into it himself. His brows shot up as one of the bronzes dropped away, the darker shade suggesting it was Hephaeth. Based on the uncertainty with which he was dropping behind, Dirk suspected Dave had come to as well, and his worry of flying his brother's dragon had overridden whatever interest the dragon had.

"I think Jade did it too," He whispered, feeling as much as hearing the whoop of surprised pleasure beside his ear.

"Golly good! I knew she had it in her!"

Just then someone slammed into the doorway, panting heavily from exertion. Both men looked up, seeing their friend Roxy clinging to the doorway like a lifeline while focused intently on Dirk.

Nith was one of the bronzes chasing Yaldabaoth. And, from the feel of things, Yaldabaoth was seriously considering him for her first clutch.

Jake hopped up onto his feet at a similar realization, marching over to her to offer the same services he had Dirk. She shoved him out of the way before he could try, marching forward and grabbing Dirk's shirt tightly.

Dirk replied by grabbing her jaw and nose, pinching both shut and waiting for the inevitable result. As far as things went, it was a lot less sudden and painful than a slap across the face, and was more likely to work, to boot.

In less than a minute her eyes had widened, pupils frantically narrowing as she flailed and panicked. Out in the air, Nith roared at Yaldabaoth's rider and the gold herself, pushing himself in equal parts anger and lust even as Roxy came back to herself.

She stumbled back into Jake's arms as Dirk let go, gasping for air and choking on a sob as she realized what she'd come close to doing to one of her best friends. "Oh my god, Dirk, I was-"

"I only just got out of it myself," He reassured, looking up to Jake to offer better emotional support than he could.

"You should have seen the way he snarled at me!" Jake chuckled, rubbing her shoulders as she centered herself. "Would have thought he was a werewolf on the hunt!"

Roxy snorted out a giggle, pressing a hand to her mouth. "I could totes see it. He's a bit scrawny for a big bad wolf, tho."

Dirk stiffened slightly in outrage, shooting a glare at Jake when he started laughing as well before relaxing and offering a hint of a smile. "You two are horrible; I don't know how I'm friends with you both."

"Because we're awesome and you know it," Roxy replied easily, stepping forward to wrap an arm around his waist while grinning up at him. "And Janey would totes agree if she weren't busy making sure the non-riders are keeping the riders contained. She's already decided there aren't gonna be any more incidents while she's around to stop them."

"Good on her," Dirk nodded, pleased to know the kind-hearted woman was putting her foot down as well on the tentative desire to ignore the ramifications of the aftermath in favor of focus on caring for the second generation of dragons. It was one thing to accept some cultural shifts in order to better prepare for decades of threadfall ahead, but another to let universal crimes slide just because of a lack of control.

Suddenly the two stiffened, realizing that Yaldabaoth had made her decision and was even now falling towards the ocean below, Nith latched to her with a deep hum of exertion and pleasure. Roxy tentatively released her hug, flushing as she averted her gaze.

"...congratulations, I guess," Dirk offered awkwardly, glancing over to a wildly confused Jake. "Yaldabaoth just let Nith catch her."

"...oh!" And now Jake was flushed as well, glancing between the two of them. "Are you, erm-"

"It's fine, I'm not about to do that to her," Dirk reassured, glancing back to Roxy as she closed her eyes and breathed deeply. "And I think she's good too. Still, we should probably wait a bit for them to finish before we go out and check on things."

"Right, right, of course. Do you want me to get you guys something?"

"Water, something light, and…" Dirk frowned, feeling the last of the lust disperse as Nith and Yaldabaoth broke and floated back to the ground together, wings almost overlapping. "Try to see how soon you can get a meeting together. We need to make sure none of our riders get affected like this again, especially if other critical things are going on at the same time."

If it happened during the rumored move up north...!

~0~0~0~0~0~0~

((Pernstuck AU: the next generation))

((Retrieved from an rp site I played on for a bit, so yeah.))

The blue dragon rested in his shell, knowing that soon he would need all his strength to escape his prison and find the one he was destined for. Outside his shell was a strange and dangerous world, where he would have to fight a menace that ravaged his home. Or at least that was what his mother promised in her whispered tales to them, encouraging their young minds to stretch and grow so that they would be ready to bond as soon as they left the shell.

But… did he want to?

Certainly, he'd met many hopeful young minds, all happy to speak with him or his siblings and perhaps one day ride into battle together. He'd come to understand happiness and sorrow, greed and honor, and through many of them were decent enough, good for his siblings perhaps, none of them felt quite… correct for him.

Was he mistaken in the feeling he was told he would know when he found his rider? Certainly more than one other egg had chirped with the eagerness of ones who already knew without a doubt who would be theirs, but how did one convey the feeling of 'right' when one had never experienced it?

He squirmed restlessly in his shell until his mother heard and calmed him, a quiet assurance that settled him for a few moments before the doubt crept in again.

Perhaps he would need to see them with his own eyes, as his older kin did, before he would know for certain. Surely he could not be the first hatchling to be uncertain until he truly saw his rider, right? Still, the idea that he would still find his options lacking lurked, leaving him even more restless despite all attempts to calm him.

Eventually, much to the relief of his siblings and mother, he exhausted himself enough to fall asleep, and dreamed of the dark emptiness that felt too close for comfort. He shuddered in his warm shell, unable to escape the cold, until he awoke and realized the shuddering was from around him.

Hatching! He could feel his siblings crack their shells, ready to meet their destined others, and he could hear the joy in their voices as the bonds were made. He still did not feel ready, but his shell was stifling, and he could feel the outside crack as a stray tail swing from his brother did some of his job for him.

His temper suddenly flared - he would have what his hatchmates had, even if he had to search the entire world for his rider! With that he shoved, his shell shattering after only a few blows and depositing the small teal blue onto the warm sands.

Eyes softening from red as he took in his surroundings, he quickly noted which pairs had already left to eat and which humans and hatchlings were still waiting to bond. With increasing despair, he looked over his options, realizing his fears as he realized that none of these boys were for him. Where were the others? Surely there were more left than this? His rider had to be here, somewhere, or what use was there ever leaving that stifling warmth and darkness?

He looked around again, completely ignoring the pleading humans all clamoring for his attention (or more accurately, the women all eager to claim his golden sister's bond), trying to figure out where they'd hidden his other half. The sands quickly exhausted, he looked up to the other humans, the ones supposedly there to watch while these humans held the honor of claiming a dragon.

And there, behind the boys, was the one who did not care to watch the proceedings - no, could not, he could already feel it in his heart. Why they'd hidden his rider over there he did not know, but he would not accept this separation any longer.

With newfound determination he made his way past his golden sister, who had already given her name to a young woman who had felt the closest to him of those he'd met, past the boys who had gone from hopeful to confused at his complete brushoff before being distracted by the same bronze who'd first smacked his shell, and up to the far end of the stands, where his own rider's head hung out of a deep ache that he understood far too well.

_Why are you upset?_

Her head jerked up, her attention on him even if her eyes weren't. _Wha-?_

_You're hurting, empty._

A roil of emotions went through her, an impression of sounds overlaying them, before she whispered. "My sister's bonded your gold one, so she'll be staying here at the weyr forever while I'm dragged back home to live out life as a useless drudge. Aren't you one of the hatchlings? Shouldn't you be finding your rider?"

 _But I have, couldn't you tell? I'm sorry I couldn't find you right away, but I promise you'll never be alone again, or my name isn't Librath._ To affirm this, he clambered up into her lap, pressing his snout to her face even as she began to shake and roil through even more emotions than before.

"Librath…" She whispered again, though this time all despair was replaced by a dawning revenance as a hand reached up to run gentle fingers against his neck. "His name is Librath!"

Around them, humans roared, though it wasn't for several minutes that he realized it wasn't with the same joy as had greeted all his other siblings.

~0~0~0~

((ten turns earlier))

"We shouldn't be down here," Terezi told her friend, eyes straining to see in the dark caverns they were tiptoeing through. "The master miner said it's unstable through here-"

"Pheh, he's always talking like that," Vriska replied, throwing her hair back in disdain. "He just wants to keep us from having fun on our own."

Terezi didn't bring up the cave-in from the previous Turn that had nearly cost the lives of several miners, only averted by the keen senses of the mine wher. After all, she wasn't wrong - the adults did forbid a lot of places that hardly seemed dangerous, and the miners had been much more careful since then, so there was little chance of a cave-in now, right?

Vriska paused, head tilting, and Terezi could easily imagine the broad grin on her friend's face. "Well, well, well, I think the wimp actually toughened up a little. Maybe it's time to test his mettle again, huh?"

Terezi frowned - Tavros was one of Vriska's favorite targets, mostly because she could goad him into doing stupid things and getting hurt. Terezi personally didn't approve, but Vriska was very careful to never do anything when the adults could see, and she was enough of a charmer that she could deflect blame off herself most of the time in the rare times she was.

"Vriska-"

"C'mon, let's give him a surprise before he suckers out and leaves!" Her friend decided, ignoring Terezi as she ran off into the tunnels on her own.

With no choice, Terezi followed, but the sounds bounced around and she quickly lost track of where she was even with a hand on the walls, much less where Vriska or Tavros were. If she were lucky, she might run into Tavros first and warn him off, hopefully without tipping off Vriska, but that required resisting the urge to curl up where she was and wait for someone to find her first.

She paused briefly at hearing a scrape of foot against dust, listening for any other noise, but the tunnels were heavy in their silence. She was mostly certain there weren't tunnel-snakes down here - the wher regularly sniffed them out and snacked on them when it wasn't busy with tunnel digging - but she did not fancy her chances if she did get bitten by one through being careless.

She stepped forward again, hand briefly losing the wall as it curved away from her and up - possibly towards the main hold? - and another noise caused her to stop and look -

And her world was pain, hands up too late to protect her eyes from the assault, and now they burned through Terezi's screams and tears and, soon enough, the concerned shouting of adults.

(It was days before the healer woke her up from her fellis-induced coma, but her eyes would forever be stuck in the darkness of the tunnels.)

(Coal dust. Vriska certainly hadn't held back, had she?)

~0~0~0~0~0~0~

((and back to more Pernstuck: TNG))

Feferi was eight turns when she first wondered why she was the chosen heir and not her older sister.

Lady Holder Meenah of Ista, when asked, raised her brow, quirked her lips, then sat Feferi down across from her.

"Trizza was going to be heir," her mother admitted. "But she got it into her two turns head that she was a harper of all things, and ran off with the first dragonrider who'd take her to Fort."

Feferi frowned. "But couldn't you make her come back?"

"I could," Meenah agreed. "But seeing as she's already run off once, I can't be sure she won't do it again. Besides, someone that flighty ain't gonna do shard all besides dress up some man's arm once she's of age to marry, so I'd rather just keep track of her and make sure her marriage ain't gonna embarrass me while I train you and Jayne into proper Holders."

Feferi thought this was a bit mean of her, but let it slide in favor of the latest set of lessons on the names of the newest masters of the various craft halls. Getting through them quickly, after all, meant more time down on the beach collecting shells and snappers, and no amount of tedium was going to keep her from that!

(Besides, when Jayne was old enough to remember most of her teaching songs, Feferi was going to get to help her learn all of this as well, and that was going to be So! Exciting! She could hardly wait!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is something I've been pondering a while, and ever tried out for a bit on an rp forum before remembering I have crippling anxiety towards rping. But yeah, I basically ignore the whole 'gender exclusive colors' and 'flight lust' things in favor of my own entertainment and what might make an interesting story.
> 
> The main reasoning behind Dirk is, well, partially because part of my plans for the AU were to make the Queenriders the actual bosses of the Weyrs, not whatever random dude's dragon happened to fuck hers. Yes, the bronzes are still the ones leading wings in combat, but she tells the hold how to run and directs most of the combat even if the queens themselves can't flame.
> 
> Meanwhile, you have Dirk, who is a horrible people person. He has the potential to be great, but a lot of issues to work through to get there, which gives your entire personal development plot right there. Roxy, on the other hand is definitely more suited for weyr leadership but doesn't have the confidence in herself because of her previous issues with drinking back on Earth (before the cryosleep trip there).
> 
> So I suppose you could switch them around to their 'proper dragons', but I felt that this way would push for a lot more character development both for them and for those around them.
> 
> Meanwhile, a few passes later, you have Ista Weyr and holds being a nice, self-contained starting point to have all the trolls (well, human!trolls) and their various subplots. Terezi was one of the ones I was rping, along with Meenah and Nepeta, but all of them have the potential for interesting plots once you had a setting established by the first gen fic.
> 
> And yes, I know that a blind rider would have a hose of issues, it was one of the main things I was working around with her. I also know there's Pern fic or two about a blind rider named Teri on this site, and I want to make clear that I had these written before I knew it existed.


	19. DLC Content (Gamer AU continuation)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An expansion of the Gamer AU idea from a while back.

It wasn't until after the music had faded away that someone spoke up, ruining the otherwise satisfactory ending to the hardest game in existence.

"Seriously, an anime ending?" Dave Strider adjusted his glasses, glancing over to his friends as the black screen started to shift back to the main menu. "And here I thought SBURB didn't have a sense of irony. All this time, we could've been playing through a mud pit of gratuitous Japanese, completely expected plot twists, and animal girls with no clothing."

"Unfortunately, we had to live with gratuitous mythological references, some unexpected genre aversion, and animal girls fully clothed," Rose shook her head, already bringing up her achievement screen to see what had unlocked with the successful ending to the game. "Unless Jade unlocked something new this time around?"

Jade's ears perked up. "Oh, John and I unlocked swimsuit cosmetics for doing all our quests on Rose's planet! Do you guys wanna see?"

Behind her, John waved his hands frantically, eyes wide enough in panic that the lighter-haired twins had no choice to accept. As he covered his eyes, Jade pulled up the rewards menu, scrolling down before clicking on an option-

"Holy fuck," Dave blinked slowly, suddenly regretting so many things in life. "I wasn't expecting that."

Rose had covered her mouth with her hands to hold back what laughter she could at the ridiculousness of the combined outfits - clearly the one piece swimsuit had not been designed with the extra fur of the dog tier in mind, and it very much showed. "You look absolutely _atrocious_."

Jade looked down, finally realizing what everyone else was freaking out about, and simply shrugged it off. "What've you guys gotten, then?"

Rose snickered one last time before recomposing herself. "We have access to our sprite and sprite squared looks, and I managed to goad Dave into obtaining a grimdark cosmetic with a doomed self."

"Really? How?" John asked.

Dave shrugged, scratching at a cheek. "Pre-sprite me did a few quests for them in the doomed timeline since we knew we were gonna drop it once we had all the gear we needed. Nothing big, really."

"He had to dress up as a Sith and wield the shortest red lightsaber anyone could imagine. The look completely failed to suit him whatsoever," Rose elaborated, earning a scalthing glare for her brother.

"Hey, I fuckin' _sold_ that outfit."

"Of course you did," She conceded gracefully, looking back to her personal menus. "You even got a full boonbuck for the complete set, if I recall. I'm at 4000 achievement points, by the way."

"3950, and you cheated on those troll-exclusive ones," Dave replied, slouching slightly as Jade and John pulled up their achievement screens.

"4300," Jade replied.

"4150," John read off, before looking at the most recent ones with a squint. "Huh, I think I unlocked something rare for finding all the jujus. Post-game content? What's that?"

"Probably something to do with the new option on the menu," Dave pointed out, drawing attention back to the patiently waiting text. Indeed, right below the original options of "New Game", "Continue", "Options", and "Credits" - the last now glowing white as the others instead of being grayed out - was a line of red text reading, "Extra Content".

"Extra content," John called, the small kernel cursor obediently moving down to the red text before flashing once. The menu greyed out, a text box appearing over it.

_**Caution: Due to the recent inclusion of this DLC within the Homestuck game proper, some things may be bugged or even broken. If you encounter such issues, please alert tech support immediately, and wait for the patch in order to continue your journey. Exploitation of these bugs, if caught, will lead to severe debuffs or even temporary bans from the game. Continue anyways?** _

The four shared looks, at once coming to the same conclusion - they were _not_ playing through SBURB a third time in a row.

"Continue," Jade commanded.

The textbox flashed and disappeared, along with the menu screen, only to be replaced with the white house from the main game. The door opened on its own, and after a brief contest of wills (otherwise known as Rock, Paper, Scissors), Dave was the first to peer inside and see what was there.

"Looks like some sort of cheap-ass art museum, only they could really use some sort of decor besides the infinite black void that's making up everything else."

Rose followed her brother inside, immediately gravitating to the first painting while their other two friends followed behind. "This is a painting of us."

Indeed, all four were depicted in regal ways about Skaia, its soft blue light illuminating their faces. However, the god tier outfits were wrong - John's blue outfit was cut in the Knight style, while Rose wore a Witch's garb, Dave the Heir's, and Jade the Seer's. The placard below was titled 'Class Swap'.

_**There was a mix-up with the meteors, leading to the Beta Four being raised by different parents. Thirteen years later, John, Rose, Dave, and Jade play through SBURB. Unlocked by beating the main game.** _

Rose looked back up to the painting, only to see that the outfits had changed while she'd been reading. Perhaps it meant they could choose how they were swapped around? Or, the more likely option, it randomized them once they choose to play it. There were only twenty-four possible ways to mix up their classes, after all, so it wouldn't be too difficult to program.

(If it did include the option of the classes they hadn't played, well, that would be something else. And it was also interesting that their aspects apparently _weren't_ randomized…)

"What do your placards say?" She asked the others, each engrossed with their own paintings.

"This one's apparently a version of the game where we play as trolls?" John replied, glancing over to Rose briefly. "It says that after our session is cut short, we help the trolls - who are human - complete their own session."

"This one's talking about randomized lands," Dave replied next. "Probably so we don't get bored of doing the same missions over and over again."

"And this one has us changing patron trolls! It's not very clear on what it means - I think it's saying we actually talk to different trolls?"

Rose moved over to join Jade, quickly scanning the text and nodding her head in agreement. "'A different group of trolls' does imply others besides Karkat, Kanaya, Vriska, and Terezi. Perhaps it would also mean different survivors of the meteor incident?"

Jade's nose wrinkled in distaste. "Is this all there is? I was hoping it'd be, you know, something else."

Rose was ready to agree, only to see John pressing a hand to the back 'wall', causing it to shift and open.

"Hey, I think there's more halls and stuff!" He called, already heading into the much larger room beyond. "Yeah, this looks like the main hall, and there's directions!"

The other three players exchanged looks before rushing to join their friend, skidding to a halt in the central atrium. Behind them was another white house symbol, same as the one they'd entered into, with a large sign reading "SBURB Sessions" overhead.

Spaced evenly in a ring around them were a dozen houses in various hues, some with chains over them and their signs blanked out. In order clockwise, the signs that were visible read "Historical Settings", "Futuristic Vistas", "Apocalypse How", "Modern Livings", and "Fantastical Worlds", their houses painted green, purple, black, red, and orange respectively.

Rose looked to her friends, already knowing one they wouldn't be touching anytime in the near future. "All in favor of not going through the black door?"

"Aye," Three voices chorused, turning to her so they could huddle and discuss this more thoroughly.

"Let's be honest," Dave started the conversation, "Do any of us really want to plop our asses in the past? I mean I'm all for settling down and living the life of a simple sheep farmer as God intended, but I think Jade might go a bit crazy not having access to all her crazy toys for however long those would last."

Jade pouted but didn't deny the point.

Rose laughed. "While a historical trip wouldn't be too terrible for me, I'm rather interested in seeing what sort of settings they have in the fantasy section."

"Oh, but can't we do the future ones first?" Jade asked. "It sounds like there'd be a lot more new things to discover!"

"Why don't we try the modern door first, then?" John asked, stepping back with his hands up when he got three looks for it. "I mean, we don't have to choose something immediately, right? And I dunno about you guys, but maybe doing a few years of normal school to relax would be fun if we could do it together."

Rose glanced to Dave, who was frowning slightly but not immediately protesting the idea. Jade, meanwhile, looked thoughtful, probably because she hadn't had a chance to enjoy regular schooling and so would still be able to get her new experiences in a more controlled environment.

Well, she knew when to call it. "I second the motion. All in favor?"

"Sure." "Alright!"

"The motion passes," Rose concluded, looking to John. "Since it was your choice, you lead the way."

"Huh? Oh, right!" John turned and made his way over to the doorway, hesitating for a second before pulling it open and revealing another hallway - though this one extended much further than the entryway had, and appeared to have a mix of paintings, pictures, and statuary.

Rose, Dave and Jade followed after, dispersing to examine their own art pieces. The picture Rose stopped in front of depicted the four posing in front of a large building, aged up several years.

_**College Pack [LOCKED]** _

_**A good job requires a good degree, and a good degree requires a good college. John, Rose, Dave, and Jade are all aiming high on their careers, while also exploring what else the world has to offer. Unlocked by completing the High School Pack.** _

Rose's mouth twisted - it had been so long since any of them had been in middle school that it felt like another life entirely. Still, such a thing would best suit John's desire for a normal childhood experience - and it would, perhaps, be a bit more interesting than it had been before the Game if they were all together for it.

"Hey, guys, check this one out!" Jade called from much further down the way, practically bouncing on her feet.

As Rose and the others drew closer, it was already obvious what had caught her attention - this portrait was more actively moving, the four of them wielding wands as they posed before a regal banner. As interested as she'd been in wizards and the occult, even she'd delved into this particular series enthusiastically.

"Harry Potter? Really?" Dave asked, one brow raised. "I'd've pegged Rose to be the one to obsess over it."

"But it's perfect, don't you see?" Jade replied, grinning at them all. "It's a school, so John gets to relax and enjoy himself, it's got magic so Rose can have her fantasy setting, and there's still normal modern stuff too so we all can keep up with our hobbies over the break!"

John shrugged. "That actually sounds sorta fun, even if we'll have to deal with weird British foods and accents and stuff."

Rose hummed thoughtfully. "It actually would be rather interesting to pick apart the magic system from the inside."

Dave sighed and shook his head. "What the hell, it beats playing more SBURB. Let's do this."

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

"...so put me on and I will tell you where you ought to be!"

To his left, Jade clapped enthusiastically at the hat song, as unironically in love with the ridiculous ditty as he was with apple juice. Maybe he'd try and remix it for her for Christmas or something, provided he had the time to get to his equipment - he actually hadn't had much of a chance to do that during SBURB, and he was itching to see whether he still had his knack for it.

"Egbert, John!" The old woman up by the bench called, the dork smiling at the three of them in the way that he did when he was trying not to worry anyone before heading up to the rickety bench. The hat was dropped over his head, making him look even more like the kid he was.

Shit, they'd be going through puberty a third time.

"Rose, we're gonna go through puberty again."

His sister's eyes widened, and he could swear he'd seen the beginning of a horrified whimper before she took a breath and recomposed herself. Jade, without her big doggie ears (all the better to hear you with!), had missed the revelation in favor of cheering when John was sorted into Gryffindor- wait, what? The newly minted lion house resident waved at them, a greeting and an all clear all at once.

"Okay, did not see that coming," He muttered, only to get nudged in his side.

"It's the tallest tower," She pointed out.

"..right, that makes sense." And it did - he'd been Davesprite too, and could remember how much the wonder twins had hated being in small, enclosed places. And really, going on those old house values, Dave could admit to himself that John wasn't stupid, merely the type to jump before thinking. More so than Rose, even.

"Ravenclaw!" The hat determined for Jade, confirming the idea that it was giving those two the high points as well as their suited houses. Which meant that, based on where he knew his sister would go, he was probably going to end up going yellow.

A few years of not being obligated to be brave or the heroic type, just cruising along in life and doing his homework and sneaking into the kitchens to stock up on snacks? Yeah, he definitely didn't mind going last for this. Maybe Jade had picked right for a vacation spot after all.

"Strider, Dave!"

Oh, right, he probably should get up there. Shoving past the greatly diminished herd of nondescript first years (he was fairly sure he'd known a few of them from his apartment building, actually), he sat down in the seat and felt the old ragged hat dumped on his head.

"An interesting mind, I see… and you don't want to be with your friends?"

Dave shrugged mentally. Why ruin a good trend, especially since he didn't feel much like dealing with being smart or clever or brave all the time?

"Any of these houses would push you to great heights - you have a great amount of potential, you know."

He shrugged again. He'd bled and fought for six years in the most hellish game ever devised; he was sick of trying to prove himself to anyone. Besides, his friends would understand.

"Well, if you're certain, better be HUFFLEPUFF!"

The three wide beams he got when the hat came off was just proof he'd called it correctly. He hummed under his breath as he made his way to the long table, the smallest of smiles on his lips.

~0~0~0~

Maybe, he decided a few hours later, he'd been too hasty in thinking everything would be fine and dandy. It hadn't struck him to think about how he'd sleep, seeing as he'd generally had someone with him over the past three years to help stave off the nightmares and settle the nerves that were convinced an enemy was around every corner.

But now there was no Karkat, or at least not one he'd been able to spot (and would he be human, if he were here?), and Rose was in another house, with a password he could only guess at helplessly, and somehow he thought trying to explain why a freaking eleven year old kid was having bloody, scream-inducing flashbacks would be counterproductive.

He groaned, pulling off his glasses to rub at his eyes before deciding that, fuck it all, he could just lose a night's sleep and talk to the others tomorrow. Plan in mind, he rolled off his bed, made his way to the common room, and plopped his ass down in the chair closest to the fireplace, startling an imp - no, _house elf,_ don't accidentally pull your sword on it, idiot! - before it disappeared from sight.

With another sigh, he pulled up his sylladex, noting that a lot of the game-specific things had vanished from it as he pulled out a bottle of apple juice and his ipod. The ipod prompt spurted at him, the screen flickering and dying, and red text briefly flashed up reminding him that electronics didn't work in magical areas, dumbass, get with the program.

Yeah, this was gonna suck.

Stuffing the now-useless piece of junk back into his 'dex, he instead pulled out one of Karkat's shitty romcom books (not at all thanking whatever higher beings were behind this that he at least still had that much), settling in for the long haul. It would be the same without anyone to snark at about it, but it was better than nothing.

Almost spot on to four hours and thirteen minutes later, he was startled out of his book by a voice nearly right behind him. "Mr. Strider?"

"Yes'm?" He asked, very grateful he hadn't actually pulled his blade out despite his hand being inches from the withdraw button.

"It's well past lights out - is something wrong?" Professor Sprout asked, being weirdly kind for an adult. Sometimes it was hard to remember that this was how they were actually supposed to be, not an anomaly.

"Nah, just a bit homesick," He admitted, thinking to the meteor that had become, in a way, rather cozy despite being a mass of coded rock hurtling through the void between sessions. "Didn't want to keep anyone up."

"Still, it's nearing midnight," She replied. "You're a bit young to be pulling all nighters."

"Midnight? I thought it was getting near two," Dave replied in turn, wondering if his timing was off after all.

She smiled at him. "Not quite yet, Mr. Strider. I need to get to my patrol - I expect to find you in bed by the time I get back, alright?"

"Yes ma'am," He replied, waiting for the teacher to leave the common room before returning his focus to the time.

Ah, and there was the issue - for him, four hours and something had passed, but the game was stuck at about five minutes before midnight, which was three hours after the lights out for the first years. The second counter ticked over, going from 11:55:59 to 11:55:00, and he had to keep himself from snorting in amusement as the realization kicked in.

"Some fucking game you have here, if it can't even progress to the next day without everyone being asleep," He muttered, pulling up the menu just in case there was some way to actually 'submit bug reports' or whatever 'they' were expecting. "Huh, that's new. Patch notes."

The screen shifted, a veritable wall of text scrolling past him. Figuring Rose and Jade could pick this apart better than he could tomorrow morning, he hit the 'bug report' button and thought carefully over his message.

"Game's fucked up and stuck at midnight. Might wanna see what that's about. -TG"

Almost immediately after he hit submit, the world went black. The last thought he could groan to himself was 'well fuc-'.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Jade, who had had minimal trouble falling asleep the previous evening (hey, she'd spent six years carefully relearning a proper sleep schedule after how badly it'd been mangled by Vriska, there was no way she was going to give it up due to something as silly as EXCITEMENT!), didn't notice there had even been a patch until Rose plopped down next to her, frowning thoughtfully.

"Have you checked your menu yet this morning?" The newly-minted Slytherin asked her.

"Noooo… should I have?" Jade's brows furrowed, calling up the menu screen. "Patch notes?"

Her brows shot back up as she read over the short paragraph of patch notes that constituted Hogwarts Patch 1.0.1, looking back to her friend. "Dave?"

"He's the one who'd notice time being off the fastest," Rose agreed. "And if he's at all like he was on the meteor, he probably had trouble falling asleep without Karkat to pacify him."

"Oh no! Can we do anything to help?"

"Not without either a significant amount of rule breaking or sneakiness on our parts, at least for the moment," The lighter-haired girl sighed. "At least we won't have issues with all-nighters or midnight excursions now. Oh, hello John."

"Hey guys," The boy in question greeted, plopping down next to Jade and looking at the notes still up. "We got an update already?"

"Dave," Both girls replied.

John's eyes widened. "Did something happen?"

"From what I can extrapolate, insomnia leading to a disconnect between his internal clock and the in-game time," Rose repeated for his benefit. "I have little doubt he's alright besides some lingering exhaustion, though we'll only know for certain when he arrives for breakfast."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I got really into this idea for a bit before I realized that I wasn't making it that exciting. I mean, I tried, but... well, I tried. Maybe someone else in the universe will like it, I don't know. But yes, this setting really was meant for a more visual artform instead of all text-based.


	20. Some More Pernstuck: TNG and Refugees Drabbles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some bits and pieces I've had sitting around in various docs that should probably go up before I forget about them again.

((Pernstuck TNG: Yet more Terezi stuff))

Librath sprawled out on the clifftop, drinking in the afternoon sun without concern of being foisted off by more highly ranked dragons. It was one of the reasons both he and his rider loved restdays, especially ones nice enough to warrant a gather and thus draw much of the weyr away for the day.

He adjusted his wings slightly as he noted the sun had moved, taking care to not disturb his rider sleeping underneath the right one in the process. She’d been tasked all morning to help wrangle restless weyrlings and hatchlings while those who normally watched over the young ones busied themselves with preparations for the event. 

(At the least he’d gotten a bath out of it, even if his rider had ended up completely soaked in the process. Again.)

Librath was about to let himself doze off as well when the beat of large wings nearby roused him, the pale gold dragon settled down nearby with her rider. 

_ Your rider’s in trouble _ , Pyralspath warned him as the woman astride her slid off. 

_ My rider is sleeping, _ Librath replied, moving his head protectively between the two riders.  _ She spent all morning with the weyrlings. _

Pyralspath’s rider paused as that information was conveyed to her via her gold, then finished making her way over at a much more sedate pace. “I thought she knew she had today off to visit the gather - I even left her a message telling her to meet me down at the hold.”

_ We received the message, but Gredath’s rider pushed his wards on her before she could protest so he could go meet pretty women at the gather. _

The woman groaned, resting a hand on his head. “Urgh, remind me to punch Y’vin later, will you? I won’t have him countermanding my orders when I’m second in command.”

_ My rider will remember _ , Librath agreed, figuring now it would be safe for her to wake his rider up without there being lots of shouting that would cause hurt feelings and so lifting his wing enough for the gold rider to duck in underneath.

“Thank you, Librath,” The woman thanked before crouching down to shake his rider’s shoulder. “Hey, Terezi, up and ready.”

“Latula?” His rider yawned as she stirred, a questioning note sent towards Librath as a hand came up to grab the older woman’s own. “Weren’t you at the gather?”

“I was,” Pyralspath’s rider agreed. “But someone didn’t show up when she promised, and I intended to give her a piece of my mind.”

“Not my fault,” Terezi yawned again, dropping the grip to rub at her face. “What time ‘s it?”

“I know, Librath told me. And it’s two marks past midday - the only reason you aren’t a sunburnt mess right now is because of your dragon.”

“That’s why I chose this spot specifically,” Terezi agreed, wincing with a jolt of dull pain as she forced herself into a sitting position. “Urgh, my back’s not happy with me though. Think I pulled something when I got dunked by the brats.”

Librath could feel the embarrassed pleasure his rider was feeling deep down from the attention, and hummed his own amusement as he adjusted his wings again to keep them from stiffening up. 

~0~0~0~0~0~

((And a lot more Refugees))

The world burned green as far as she could see through the choking smoke, and Tyrande could do nothing about it.

Before her stood the Condesce, fel fires gleaming behind her eyes and fangs as she lazily strode towards the priestess, who in turned fired arrow after arrow at her opponent only for them all to be deflected by a trident of gold and blood. One arrow sank into the ground mere inches from the corpse of Tyrande’s husband, and she forced herself to not tear up as she notched another arrow.

Tyrande knew in her heart that she was no match for the demoness who had corrupted the Well of Eternity, even as weakened as she must have been after it exploded and cut her connection to it and Azeroth. Only the might of the entire world, united, had any sort of chance at turning back the Legion should they turn their sights to Azeroth in full, an impossible dream that only made the enemy’s inevitable return all the more terrifying.

The Condesce raised her trident to strike, as she always did when Tyrande dreamed of this, and Tyrande could only wait for the inevitable pain of three sharp points through her stomach.

A pain which never came, the other not even looking at her anymore, but to something behind her, lips pulling back into a snarl Tyrande could only remember seeing once before. The demoness then shoved right past her, allowing Tyrande to turn and see what had angered the ancient enemy. 

Shadows gathered, smothering the flames and clearing the smoke to reveal the light of Elune shining bright behind them, a shape just taking form from the twisting darkness-

“Lady Tyrande!”

Tyrande jolted awake, eyes stinging from the memory of the dream and the setting sun’s rays peering from between the clouds. The day guard who had awoken her stood ready, though there was a tension to the guard’s form that told the high priestess that she would not have a restful night ahead of her. “Sentinel?” 

“Lady Tyrande, the guard of the western border report seeing falling stars coming down towards the southern isles.”

“Falling stars?” Tyrande frowned, sitting up fully. “Those have come before without issue.”

“These ones fell together like a flock of birds coming in to land.”

Impossible to be natural then. Tyrande slowed her eyes and pushed away the remnants of the dream. “Prepare the forward fleet, then - whoever has come to our doorstep will not go unchallenged.”

If it proved to be the Horde with some new technology, perhaps they would be able to infiltrate and destroy their contraptions before they could be used against Darnassus.

If it was the Legion…

Tyrande pushed herself to her feet and began preparing herself for battle.

~0~0~0~0~0~

The clouds had thickened and darkened into a storm by the time night had fully fallen. Though it served as something of a hindrance to speed, it more than made up for itself in stealth, all but guaranteeing that whatever had come down to land would completely miss their ships coming in to land in a secluded bay close enough to call for a retreat should they be noticed too soon.

Tyrande tucked some of the hair plastered to her face by the rain back behind her ears, crouched low as she lead the scouting party towards the place most likely to be the landing site of the fallen stars. Rhok’shalla pressed comfortably against her back, ready to be drawn if necessary, though she hoped it would not come to a fight. She stepped past bushes and through brush carefully, only disturbing them as much as the storm did, listening intently through the softening rain for the sounds of foreign activity that might give away the intrusion.

The soft creak of a branch above was the only alert she had as to the return of Dori’thur, her soft green glow managing to be lost to a cursory glance in the trees around it. The owl tilted her head at Tyrande’s acknowledgement before turning to preen at her ghostly feathers, and the priestess felt her shoulders droop slightly in relief. Whatever was there was not immediately dangerous, or else her companion would not be so relaxed.

The rain petered off as the forest started thinning out, Tyrande and her scouts slipping through the shadows as Dori’thur followed above. She was just able to make out the massive shapes of things too smooth and even to be wood or stone - perhaps metal? The idea of the structures being ships of some kind was strengthened as her scouts started picking out moving shapes - people, but of what race? 

Elune chose that moment to peer out from behind the clouds, illuminating a patch of the clearing with one standing calmly in the middle - and Tyrande’s hair stood on end. She knew those horns in her nightmares, that face, that trident. The Condesce stood not forty yards from her - and was staring right at her.

Tyrande didn’t even notice when the bow had entered her hand, nor did she know exactly when she’d nocked an arrow back. She did notice, however, that despite the tremor of her hands betraying her, her fingers refused to let go of the string as Elune’s gaze expanded out across the rest of the clearing. Other demons were either retreating to their metal ships or watching their leader, who continued to do nothing with a calm that only made Tyrande more concerned. 

Why was the enemy not attacking? Why was there no taste of fel upon the land despite the hours since they’d landed? How had they gotten here without the magic of the Well to open a rift through the Twisting Nether? And why were there  _ children _ among their number, if the immature creatures with their pale beasts were that and not some other kind of demon?

She didn’t like not having answers, so she took a breath, relaxed her bow, and forced herself to step out into Elune’s light as well, eyeing her opposite with as blank a face as she could manage. Her scouts stayed behind in the woods despite their quiet protests, because if she fell they would have that much better a chance to retreat to the ships and warn the rest of her people before they could be caught. 

“I apologize for the intrusion,” The demoness tilted her head forward and to the side, offering a greeting without breaking eye contact. “We merely came here to gather supplies for the next leg of our journey.”

“Supplies,” Tyrande echoed, disbelief creeping into it even as her gaze wandered again to the young ones looking to their leader. “A world of dozens of races to trade with, and you choose to forage as far from any as possible? That does not exactly give the impression of innocence.”

“Would flying directly by your city have been any better?” The other asked wryly, lips twitching upwards. “You might be good at hiding it, but I could see your expression the second you saw us. I don’t doubt that announcing ourselves up front would have gotten us shot at before I could finish speaking.”

She wasn’t wrong, the night elf leader had to concede. Seeing those ships hovering just outside of Darnassus would have provoked the same response as if a fleet of Horde airships were coming. “Why not try speaking to any of the other races, then? I know several who would have been more than accommodating.”

“The first time we tried that, the other factions of that world attacked our trade partners almost five minutes after we’d left. Trying to spread trade evenly doesn’t work, either - it’s all too easy for them to convince themselves we’ve given their enemies some extra boon.” Her opposite shook her head. “So we keep to ourselves if we have reason to believe revealing ourselves would be detrimental.”

That… sounded a lot more reasonable than she’d expected. She could easily see young races going to war over anything these - people - had to offer, even at a casual glance.

“Why travel at all, then? Why not simply find an empty world and settle? Or return to your old world?”

Her opposite grimaced. “Because mother made a prophecy - you will wander to the ends of the universe, but you will not know a new home until you find a world where the night outshines the sun. And going back would mean death for my people.”

The coincidence was too much, in the end. “The Legion.”

The other leader hissed. “The Condesce. She already had a fleet capable of conquering the galaxy, destroying hundreds of worlds for her own sick amusement, and then she manages to find the one way to ruin the rest of the universe as well! The Legion would never have found us if not for her!”

Tyrande watched the other leader close her eyes and breath deeply, the shaking of her body gradually fading away again - but for a moment, she could almost see the fel flames flickering from her vision.

“If we settled, we would bring the Condesce and her fleet down on whatever world we chose, risking innumerable lives in the process. My mother knew this when her bond with the Condesce was severed, and so I made certain we would keep ourselves and everyone else safe.” Pink eyes opened again, staring down the night elf cautiously. “You’ve met the Legion.”

“We fought the Legion,” Tyrande confirmed. “We banished them from our world long ago, and have worked hard to keep them away.”

“Did it work?” 

“For ten thousand years.” The priestess elaborated. “And then several years ago, when a demon lord known as the Grand Highblood led an army of undead and demons to attack the World Tree. Our world came together to delay him and his forces long enough for my husband to awaken the defenses and unleash them on him, utterly destroying him.”

That drew a look of surprise from her opposite. “The Grand Highblood is gone? Are you positive?”

“Completely,” Tyrande affirmed. “All of his power, and that of the Well, vanished at once from his forces - and that could only have happened if there were no way for him to maintain it.”

The other leader was silent for a long while, gaze searching her for any sort of deception. Eventually she straightened herself completely, a new confidence to her that Tyrande hadn’t even noticed was missing until then.

“As Her Guiding Luminescence, Empress of the Free Alternian Peoples, I humbly request refuge for myself and my people, to rebuild our society and prepare for an attack by the Condesce and her fleet at some indefinite point in the future, in exchange for what intelligence and resources we can provide in the fight against the Legion.”

There was a strange sort of power involved when one word could determine the fate of an entire race.

“As High Priestess of the Sisters of Elune and the leader of the kaldorei… I accept your plea for refuge.”

~0~0~0~0~0~

An hour before dawn, the erection of a temporary hold for the kaldorei guard until a more permanent structure could be set up was interrupted by the arrival of a ghost.

More precisely, an Alternian ghost, her horns curling like a ram’s through her mass of freely floating hair. Tyrande held a hand up to stop spells in midcast, more for the safety of her people than concern for the intruder - there was a disturbing amount of Shadow magic swirling about her, possibly enough to challenge the high priestess herself if Elune did not intervene and strengthen her magic.

“You all are jumpy, aren’t you?” The ghost asked rhetorically. “I can see why she didn’t mention us right away.”

“Us?” Tyrande asked, already knowing the answer and not liking it.

“The ghost guard,” The intruder replied. “As chief necropath of the fleet, I am in charge of training the living with death-related psionics, as well as keeping the dead from causing too much trouble. The empress was kind enough to let me know that you had faced down the Grand Highblood as well as an army of the dead.”

The ghost did not seem happy about any of that.

“Since our wise and benevolent leader already forgot to mention our presence,” The ghost noted wryly, “She also would have probably forgotten to let you know that most of the living are going to be asleep before dawn hits. It’s also when I planned on having my ghosts go scouting, and I figured your people would rather not get surprised by a small army of ghosts without some forewarning.”

“We appreciate the warning, then,” Tyrande replied diplomatically, with the sinking understanding of where the idea for the Scourge must have originally come from. “Do you have a name or title we may call you by?”

“Repose. What should I do with your people’s ghosts?”

The priestess blinked. “Excuse me?”

The ghost sighed. “We’re going to sweep the entire island, and probably the nearby ones depending on time. Since this is your territory, I imagine there’ll be at least a few stragglers keeping to themselves for their own reasons. Normally, I’d leave them be if they asked, but I don’t want to risk my people if your ghosts become hostile, so I’d rather know now if you’d like us to lay them to rest or send them to you instead.”

That was… not at all expected, and yet surprisingly thoughtful. “Send them to me, if you would. I can help them settle themselves or get them to move on to Darnassus and leave your people alone.”

The ghost bowed, disappearing into the shadows as the first colors of pre-dawn started to bleed over the eastern horizon. Tyrande exhaled slowly, not looking forward to confronting the empress about that encounter that evening.

Still, she’d definitely learned something important from that conversation - apparently the respect given to the empress was not as universal as the first impression had implied, or else that ghost had a particular grudge against her. And yet, she was in charge of an entire army of ghosts, whose numbers Tyrande could only guess at.

She quietly prayed to Elune that she had not made the wrong choice in letting these outsiders stay.

~0~0~0~0~0~

~0~0~0~0~0~

Repose hummed thoughtfully as she strode through some of the old ruins of the isle, running fingers of magic along the carved stone. There were remnants of magic in these, older than her by far, but no so old that she could not think of older from the homeworld. 

In life, she’d had a fondness for exploring the ruins around her rural home, trying to piece together their history without relying on the grubnet’s biased and limited information. It had helped, of course, that she had been a strong necropath even as a wriggler, and so had been able to coax out the few surviving spirits of many, many cleaning attempts by the Condesce to talk and soothe. 

It had taken a long time after her death to overcome the natural apathy that encouraged most ghosts to pass on into the Veil, and even now she knew that mild interest was only a fraction of what she’d have felt if she were still alive. Still, Repose failed to regret denying the Empress’s wish to put all her friends in cryosleep to extend their lives beyond what she could manage, because someone had needed to stay equal to the Empress lest she forget what she was fighting to protect. 

Ah, perhaps that was what was making her annoyed - the Empress’ faith in this world’s ability to stand up to the Legion. While this world did not seem to be under sway by demons, the Condesce had been known for her long games, taking over difficult worlds through misdirection and guile until defenses fell and the fleet could sweep in to finish off what hadn’t crumbled from her efforts. 

It was not a likely scenario, given the genuine distrust the elves had shown her when she’d explained her task of the day, but one she resolved to keep in mind until she was proven right or proven wrong. 

“Chief Repose?” One of the younger ghosts approached her, drawing her attention away from the untranslatable words carved into the base of a half-worn statuette. “We managed to finish scouting the southernmost isle.”

“Report then, Reaver.”

~0~0~0~0~0~

~0~0~0~0~0~

Beastmaster frowned as he concentrated, searching for the elusive traces of the minds the Empress had asked him to draw out for examination and proper burial by the necropaths. He’d never had much experience with animals minds after their death, as they rarely had ghosts strong enough to persist more than a few seconds after the body gave up, but these dragons - and it was still  _ weird _ to think of aliens having something as familiar as those - were apparently strong enough that their ghosts could be riled up and kept around for  _ five thousand sweeps _ .

One would think that that amount of strength would make them stand out against the general background noise, but there was a drawback in that death fundamentally altered the mind - look at how the necropaths were once they shed their bodies! And, he had to concede, it probably wasn’t any easier when a ghost dragon older than even Repose was doing its best to hide from them, more than likely aware of their intent.

At the least, he wasn’t doing this alone - the Luminesce had asked some of the best of the young adults to accompany him, layering their efforts on top of each other to spread the depth of their probing. Not including himself, there were five living Alternians and two ghosts, the latter of which were only lightly touching the search in order to help open their minds to the undead without overwhelming them. It was enough that, after half a night’s work, he was fairly certain they were close to where the ‘black dragon’ was hiding himself.

Speaking of the others, Kyrene was looking particularly shaky, her whole body drained from the effort she’d been putting into this. Beastmaster had been attempting to get them to take breaks occasionally, but even he knew he had never been leadership material, and it showed here.

Just as he thought it, her mind slipped from the group, and the rest scattered in the wind as her fellows caught her and started checking to make sure she hadn’t burned out her psionics completely. The ghosts had not reacted much, so Beastmaster allowed himself to exhale and roll his shoulders, wincing at the pops from sitting relatively still for so long.

~0~0~0~0~0~

~0~0~0~0~0~

“Your vitals seem to be all in order,” the mediculler told her patient as she glanced through the diagnostics scrolling down the screen. “You can get up and walk around if you like, but the Empress has asked you to wait here for her arrival, so it would be best if you didn’t go too far.”

“Yeah, yeah, I figured,” the threshecutioner formerly known as Karkat replied, more than happy to get his shirt and jacket back on. “Any idea when she plans on showing up?”

“She requested that she be alerted the moment you woke up, so she should be here shortly-” 

“Great, can I get something to eat first, or am I gonna have to deal with her sickeningly bubbly personality on a food processor that hasn’t seen food in literal sweeps?” He complained, rolling his shoulders and scowling. “And why the fuck is it so cold in here?”

“It’s to keep your carapace from cracking due to heat expansion, Threshecutioner Dauntless. Too much of a temperature gradient experienced in a short period of time would-”

“Right, got it, too warm and my body splits in two and leaves my guts spilled all over the floor like some sort of macabre tribute to the horrorterrors and then you have to explain to the Empress why I’m a pile of mutant gore spilled all over my former carapace.”

“...ah...” The mediculler replied slowly, losing some of the starry eyed awe that always seemed to cling to the younger ones who only had whatever stories were passed down from the older ones to rely on. 

(Not that he minded, per say, but then they started bothering him with endless questions and usually ended up keeping him from doing anything productive like, say, watching dirt foliage grow or taunting whatever murderbeasts decided to evolve themselves on this planet with only his pants and his righteous fury at the general state of the universe.)

“Dauntless, you aren’t making the medicullers uncomfortable already, are you?” The Empress asked as the door slid open to let her in, a smile on her lips even as a fond sigh escaped them. “I thought we broke you of that habit sweeps ago.”

“Please, you know I only do that to the incompetent ones; she mostly has her head on straight.” He gestured with a nod to the mediculler in question, who had flushed green and bowed deeply the moment the Empress had arrived. 

“A rare compliment,” Luminesce replied, smile fading a bit. “Has she told you what sweep it is yet?”

“No, she’s been doing her job, not drivelling on about whatever trends are popular with the wrigglers this generation.” Dauntless narrowed his gaze, already knowing he wasn’t going to like what she was going to say next. 

“It is currently the 12053rd sweep of my reign, as according to the old world calendar,” She replied, snapping his eyes wide open.

“I wasn’t supposed to wake up for another thirty sweeps, what the fuck, Fef?” He demanded, not caring about the sharp inhale from the nervous mediculler for his casual use of the Empress’s wriggling name. “Don’t tell me we’re in trouble.”

“No no, the opposite, actually,” The Empress shook her head. “We found a place to settle. We’re going to stand and fight the Legion.”

Dauntless’s gaze narrowed. “Who are you, and how did you manage to replace the Empress without anyone noticing? Don’t think I won’t cut you down-”

“Karkat.”

He clamped down on his building tirade, realizing this was beyond serious now. “Why, then?”

“I’ll explain once everyone’s awake,” She replied, already turning to head back out. “But believe me when I say I’m not throwing my people’s lives away with this move.”

“You really think we can win here?” He asked her, giving her pause before she turned to glance at him one last time. 

“I believe we stand a chance.” The door slid shut, leaving the sweating mediculler and an unnerved threshecutioner behind in a heavy silence.

~0~0~0~0~0~

~0~0~0~0~0~

The last time Feferi had seen Alternia this closely, it had been when she and her people were fleeing for their lives from the Condesce and her armies, the grey and blue orb so fragile and small as it disappeared in a flash of stars. Now it hung over Azeroth menacingly, the surface practically shredded and bleeding green and black. 

Her friends were not much better, even Vriska unable to come up with a snide quip in the face of what the Legion had done to their homeworld. Aradia’s aura was a tangle of emotions, and Feferi could only dread how terrible the emotional writhing of the ghosts of that world were if it could be felt from here. 

“Prepare the ships,” Feferi heard herself say, drawing the attention of everyone around. “We’re heading home.”

“Empress-”

“Three weeks. That should be enough time for your forces to rally and prepare, should it not?” She asked, turning to Khadgar. The pink blood still splashed across her and her trident more than likely made an intimidating image, but the mage simply nodded to the request.

~0~0~

The pressure at this depth of the ocean was as comforting as she remembered, Feferi swimming on an instinct she didn’t realize she still had. Meenah was just keeping up with her, youthful energy making up for age and strength, seeing the birthright she’d been spared and denied. 

Eridan and a few of Azeroth’s heroes were with her, the latter protected from the depths through the powers of their shaman, though even they were gaping at the size of the massive house that Feferi, so long ago, had lived in. Age showed in the disrepair, even with building drones, and barnacles and other creatures crawled around the outside like they were picking apart a corpse.

But her house was not why she was here. Eridan held her hand as the others were allowed to rest and explore, but her gaze remained firmly outwards, towards where the corpse of Alternia’s old god still hung in her mind’s eye like a beacon. Even so long after her death, Gl'bgolyb had a presence that even the most psi-null could not ignore, and she knew she didn’t miss Meenah’s squirming and constant glances out into the darkness.

It was too long and no time at all before they resumed their trek, the waters becoming more foreboding and emptier as they got closer. Her body was still where Feferi had left it ages ago, tentacles slumped over the massive white form and eyes cloudy and empty, but there was no doubt its focus was on her, a glare palpable enough that she hesitated before closing the rest of the distance and pressing her hand against the beak that had once given her such comfort and despair.

“Hello, mother,” she said. “I’m back. Did you miss me?”

The ghost writhed around her, threatening to choke her, but she was not that scared child anymore, and the shadows could do no more than grasp at her own. Meenah slowly swam forward to join her, one hand clinging to Feferi’s robes while she looked up at her grand-lusus. 

“I slew your favorite daughter,” The empress informed the ghost. “Did you feel it? Were you satisfied with that final revenge, or do you still wish I’d been the one to fall up above you? 

“I won the throne, mother, just the way you wanted us to. And now I have an heiress of my own, who will be the first to take the crown through peace, not blood. When she’s ready to lead, and no sooner, I will abdicate my seat and let her take it, in hopes that she will go farther than even I could.

“I defied your prophecy. I found a world my people could call home, and stood against that which scared you, and together we have pushed them back to here, where it all began. And soon, I will finish this, and restore Alternia to its former glory.

Feferi remained silent for a long while.

“You know, even after all these sweeps, I still love you in the same breath that I hate you for everything you did to my people, to my species.” She continued, a small cloud of pink leaking from the corner of one of her eyes. “Without you, I couldn’t have saved them, and made them the people they should have been allowed to be in the first place.”

“I’m not sorry I couldn’t be the child you wanted, but this… this was for the best. I’m only sorry you would never have been happy with it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pernstuck: TOS is something that will probably be coming around eventually... after I finish my current projects. TNG will more than likely depend on how well TOS goes over with people.
> 
> As for Refugees, I really want to write it, but it will be a long project, and more than likely completed on SB / SV before I clean it up and post it here.


End file.
